A  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


A    LITTLE    nnvil    MAIDEN.— The    grandmother   is   instructing 
child- in  Bible  stories  which  are  shown  on  the  tiles  of  the  fireplace. 


Manual  of  Stories 


by 
William  Byron  Forbush 

Author  of 

THE  "BoY  PROBLEM" 
"MANUAL  OF  PLAY,"  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  CO. 

Publishers 


Copyright,  1915 
AMERICAN  INSTITUTE  OF  CHILD  LIFE 


PUBLISHER'S    NOTE 

There  could  be  no  good  reason  for  adding  another  to 
the  many  good  books  upon  story-telling,  unless  a  new  book 
should  prove  to  have  something  that  has  not  been  said  be- 
fore. This  manual  is  distinctive  in  several  ways. 

It  is  the  most  comprehensive  book  that  has  yet  been 
written.  It  covers  all  the  aspects  of  the  subject:  the  value 
of  stories;  the  kinds  of  stories  children  like  at  different 
ages ;  devices  for  making  stories  effective ;  picture-stories ; 
dramatized  stories ;  the  relations  of  stories  to  play ;  the  use 
of  stories  in  building  character ;  stories  in  the  home,  the 
school  and  the  church ;  professional  story-telling,  etc. 

Part  II  is  devoted  to  the  first  detailed  description  yet 
printed  of  the  remarkable  system  of  bottle-doll  story- 
telling. 

The  list  of  sources  for  stories  is  the  most  extensive 
yet  compiled. 

The  first  classified  list  of  stories  for  character-build- 
ing ever  prepared  is  here. 

The  fullest  list  of  story-plays  for  children  is  given. 

Several  helpful  programs  and  special  lists  are  fur- 
nished. The  most  unique  of  these  is  a  set  of  a  dozen  lists 
of  stories,  especially  prepared  for  the  author  by  the  best 
story-tellers  in  America,  which  in  their  own  experience 
were  most  liked  by  children  and  were  favorites  of  them- 
selves. 

It  is  of  special  value  that  the  book  is  written  from  the 
masculine  standpoint. 

The  volume  is  enriched  by  the  thoughts  of  the  earlier 
writers  in  this  field,  which  are  carefully  acknowledged  and 
gratefully  used. 


526 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 
HOW  TO  TELL  STORIES 

PAGE 

I  THE  VALUE  OF  STORY-TELLING — Responsiveness  of  the 
Child;  Physical  Value;  Educational  Value;  Emotional 
Value;  Stories  in  Character-Building;  How  Stories 
Assist  in  the  Development  of  Character;  Social  Helps; 
Moral  Value;  Limitations  of  Story-Telling;  It  Takes 
Both  Work  and  Friendship  to  Make  a  Life;  Why  Tell 

Stories 3 

/  II  VARIOUS  KINDS  OF  STORIES — The  Primitive  Story; 
Myths;  Fairy  Stories;  Epic  Stories;  Biography  and 
Purposive  Stories;  Story-Telling  Poems 17 

III  STORIES  THAT  CHILDREN  LIKE — Stories  with  a  Sense 

Appeal;  Fairy  Stories;  Hero  Tales;  Differing  Tastes  of 
Boys  and  Girls;  Story-Tastes  Are  Defined  by  Expe- 
rience; Funny  Stories  and  Sad  Stories 21 

IV  How    TO  TELL    STORIES    TO   CHILDREN — Plot   of   the 

Story;  A  Good  Beginning;  Action  and  Sense  Appeal; 

Climax;  Method;  Results  Are  in  the  Future 28 

V  STORY-TELLING  DEVICES — Getting  the  Attention;  Direct 
Discourse;  Details;  Repetition;  Retouching;  One's  Self 
and  the  Story;  Leisure;  Story-Telling  with  Chalk; 
Shall  One  Memorize?  Spontaneity;  The  Child's  Part 

in  Story-Telling 39 

VI     CONTINUED  STORIES — The  Continued  Story  as  a  Drama; 

Serial  Stories  Classified  by  Ages      50 

VII  PICTURE  STORY-TELLING — Picture-Interests  of  Children; 
Suggestions  for  Picture  Study;  Studying  Pictures 
through  the  Story;  Choice  of  Pictures  for  Children; 
Methods  of  Story-Telling  through  Pictures;  Two  Pic- 
ture Stories:  "Boy  and  Rabbit" — "The  Age  of  Inno- 
cence"; Permanent  Value  of  Pictures;  Moral  Educa- 
tion through  Picture  Stories;  A  List  of  Story  Pictures  55 
VIII  RELATION  OF  STORIES  TO  PLAY — The  Story  Game; 
Story-Playing  on  Sunday;  A  List  of  Stories  and  Play- 
things    74 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

IX  DRAMATIZING  STORIES — Dramatizing  Stories  in  School; 
Stories  that  Are  Easily  Acted;  The  Puppet  Theater; 
Children's  Dramatics 8 1 

X  THE  STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING:  IMAGINATIVE 
STORIES — How  to  Grade  Such  Stories;  Stories  with  a 
Sense  Appeal:  "Monday" — "The  Wee  Hare  and  the 
Red  Fire"— Fairy  Stories:  "The  Fairy  Who  Came  to 
Our  House" — "Little  Blue  Gown  and  the  Butterfly" ; 
Myths  and  Legends:  "The  Knight  with  the  Ill-Fitting 
Coat";  Parables  and  Allegories:  "The  Magic  Shirt" 
—"The  Closing  Door" 87 

XI  THE  STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING:  REALISTIC  STO- 
RIES— Realistic  Stories  and  Biography:  "Jimmy  and 
the  Sharper" — Plutarch's  Stories;  One  of  Lincoln's 
Stories;  Suggestions  as  to  Telling  Moral  Stories  ...  in 

XII  How  TO  TELL  BIBLE  STORIES — Why  the  Bible  Is  the 
Best  Story  Book;  The  Manner  of  Bible  Story-Telling; 
The  Method  of  Bible  Story-Telling;  Method  of  Sub- 
traction; Changing  the  Order  of  Incidents;  Methods 
of  Reality;  Bringing  the  Bible  People  into  Pres- 
ent Day  Life;  Selection  of  Bible  Stories 122 

XIII  STORIES  AND  SCHOOL— The  Story  as  a  Help  to  Attention ; 

The  Story  as  a  Help  to  Interest;  The  Story  as  a  Help 
to  Thinking  and  Expression;  The  Story  as  a  Help  to 
Literature;  The  Story  as  a  Help  to  Writing  and  His- 
tory; The  Story  as  a  Help  to  Nature  Study;  The  Story 
as  a  Social  Unifier;  The  Story  as  a  Help  to  Morals  .  .  135 

XIV  STORIES  IN  THE  HOME— The  Comfort  and  Contentment 

of  Stories;  The  Companionship  of  Stories;  Imagi- 
nativeness of  Stories;  The  Story  Helps  More  at  Home 
Than  in  School;  The  Story  and  Home  Reading;  The 
Story  and  Home  Handicraft;  The  Story  and  Home 
Discipline;  The  Naturalness  of  Home  Story-Telling; 

Stories  at  Bed-Time 143 

XV    ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING — The  Story-Hour  in  Libra- 
ries; The  Story-Hour  on  the  Playground;  The  Story- 
Hour  in  the  Club  for  Street  Boys;  Suggestions  for  the A 
Story-Hour;  The   Program  in  the  Story-Hour;  The  ' 
Story-Tellers'  League;  The  Story-Class 152 


CONTENTS 


PART  II 
THE  BOTTLE  STORY-PEOPLE 


PAGE 


XVI  THE  BOTTLE  STORY-PEOPLE — Who  the  Bottle  People 
Are;  The  Advantages  of  Bottles;  The  Relation  to 
Handicraft ;  A  New  Way  of  Developing  the  Imagination  1 75 

XVII  THE  BOTTLE  CHARACTERS — The  Kingdom  of  Love;  the 
Kingdom  of  Law;  The  People  Who  Live  in  the  En- 
chanted Land;  Changing  Names  Does  not  Change 
Characters 179 

XVIII  THE  ENCHANTED  LAND — How  the  Characters  Move 
About;  Uses  for  the  Sand  Table;  Allegory  of  the 
Enchanted  Land 184 

XIX  How  TO  ENTER  THE  ENCHANTED  LAND — Introductory 
Suggestion  for  the  Story -Teller;  How  the  Story-Teller 
Begins;  Introducing  the  People — "Frank  Enters  the 
Enchanted  Land" 189 

XX  MARY  LOWE'S  PHILOSOPHY— The  Importance  of  the 
Education  of  the  Heart;  The  Naturalness  of  Moral 
Reflection  to  Children;  Childhood's  Need  of  a  Mimic 
World  to  Practice  In;  The  Meaning  of  this  Mimic 
World;  Significance  of  Some  of  the  Characters;  "The 
Brew" ;  "The  Potion  and  the  Lovely  Lady  " ;  The  Influ- 
ence of  the  Plan  in  Will-Training 199 

XXI  SOME  BOTTLE-DOLL  STORIES — "When  Ruth  and  Frank 
Visited  the  Enchanted  Land";  "The  Fox  and  the 
Farmer" ;  Some  Other  Stories 212 

How  TO  MAKE  THE  BOTTLE  PEOPLE      226 

How  TO  MAKE  THE  SCENERY  AND  ARRANGE  THE  ACCES- 

228 


XXII 
XXIII 

XXIV 
XXV 


SORIES 

RULES  FOR  MOVING  THE  BOTTLE  PEOPLE 231 

WHAT  THEY  MEAN  TO  THE  CHILDREN — How  to  Make 
Children  Originative;  A  Story  Told  by  a  Child  of 
Nine;  A  Story  Told  by  a  Seven- Year-Old ;  Some  of 
Mary  Lowe's  Experiences;  Harry's  Story;  Mary 
Lowe's  Story;  Some  Moral  Results  from  Bottle-Doll 
Story-Telling 233 


8 


CONTENTS 
APPENDIXES 

PAGE 

I    A  List  of  Stories  that  Children  Like,  Selected  by  the 

Best  Story-Tellers 245 

To  Accompany  Chapter  III 

II     A  List  of  Books  on  Story-Telling 252 

To  Accompany  Chapter  IV 

III  A  List  of  Books  Containing  Picture-Stories  or  Descrip- 

tions    253 

To  Accompany  Chapter  VII 

IV  A  List  of  Books  on  Dramatics  and  of  Story-Plays  for 

Children 257 

To  Accompany  Chapter  IX 

V    A  List  of  Character-Building  Stories 263 

To  Accompany  Chapter  X 

VI    A  List  of  Bible  Stories  and  of  Bible  Story-Books   .    .     278 
To  Accompany  Chapter  XII 

VII    A  List  of  Story-Books  Connected  with  School  Subjects.     284 
To  Accompany  Chapter  XIII 

VIII     A  Season's  Program  of  Stories 288 

To  Accompany  Chapter  XV 

IX    A  Program  of  Bottle-Doll  Stories 291 

To  Accompany  Chapter  XXI 

X    A  General  List  of  Story-Books 293 


PART   I 

HOW   TO    TELL    STORIES 
With  many  Story  Devices 


A  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


THE   VALUE   OF    STORY-TELLING 

"Here   are   Hesperides   more   fair, 
Here  lovelier  vales  than  Avalon." 

— Thomas  Walsh. 

Of  late  we  have  come  to  take  story- telling  seriously.  It 
is  one  of  the  oldest  of  arts  and  one  of  the  most  valuable. 
It  is  everywhere  and  in  all  ages  an  art  that  is  favored  and 
enjoyed  by  children.  All  over  the  world  and  in  all  races, 
listening  to  stories  has  been  one  of  childhood's  choicest 
occupations,  and  the  telling  of  stories  has  been  one  of  child- 
hood's earliest  crafts.  It  has  always  been  to  children  one 
of  the  most  effective  doorways  unto  life  and  knowledge. 

So  natural  is  the  story  to  children  that  it  has  made 
them  masters  in  fields  wherein  the  knowledge  obtained  by 
adults  with  painstaking  reading  and  study  cannot  surpass 
them.  "The  boy  Coleridge,"  says  Stephani  Schiitze,  "sitting 
in  his  father's  library,  watching,  half  fearfully,  the  advanc- 
ing sunlight,  till  it  should  touch  the  back  of  the  'Arabian 
Nights/  when  he  would  dare  at  last  to  take  the  enchanted 
volume  from  the  shelf  and  read,  probably  had  a  greater 
appreciation  of  the  immortal  book,  bountiful  and  wanton  as 
the  outpourings  of  nature,  natural  and  humorous  as  unper- 
verted  mankind,  and  as  beautiful  as  the  courts  of  dream- 
land, than  unimaginative  men  with  all  their  stores  of  knowl- 
edge." 


:  -MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


THE   RESPONSIVENESS   OF   THE   CHILD 

This  is  true  because  the  child  gives,  during  the  telling, 
all  the  intensity  of  his  attention,  which  is  inimitable.  In 
two  realms,  play  and  stories,  a  child  becomes  completely 
immersed  in  the  present.  Charles  Murray,  in  his  charming 
verse,  "The  Whistle,"  pictures  a  little  Scotch  dreamer  set 
to  watch  the  cattle,  who  attained  such  self -absorption,  in 
his  boy  playcraft. 

"He  cut  a  sappy  sucker  from  the  muckle  rodden  tree, 
He  trimmed  it,  an'  he  wet  it,  an'  he  thumped  it  on  his  knee; 
He  never  heard  the  teuchat  when  the  harrow  broke  her  eggs, 
He  missed  the  craggit  herons  nabbin'  puddocks  in  the  seggs, 
He  forgot  to  hound  the  collie  at  the  cattle  when  they  strayed, 
But  you  should  have  seen  the  whistle  that  the  wee  herd  made !" 

A  like  absorption  goes  with  the  story,  and  this  absorp- 
tion is  all  the  more  potent  because  it  is  an  absorption  in 
joy.  The  lesson  which  the  Greeks  teach  us  is  the  art  of 
making  education  joyous.  Instead  of  regarding  with  aver- 
sion the  different  subjects  which  they  had  studied  in  school, 
the  Greeks  loved  them  and  practiced  and  improved  them- 
selves in  them  joyously  throughout  their  lives.  The  story 
is  such  a  subject,  and  its  place  in  the  school  as  well  as  in 
the  home  is  one  of  dignified  and  valuable  educational  import. 


THE  PHYSICAL  VALUE 

Story-telling  has  its  physical  value.  At  the  end  of  the 
day  in  the  home  or  in  the  midst  of  confusion  in  the  school, 
it  charms  the  mind,  rests  the  perturbed  spirit  and  even  helps 
prepare  the  body  either  for  sleep  or  for  renewed  activity. 

THE   EDUCATIONAL   VALUE 

The  story  is  of  educational  value.  It  is  the  very  lan- 
guage of  childhood.  It  is  childhood's  most  characteristic 


THE  VALUE  OF  STORY-TELLING  5 

form  of  expression  and  our  most  direct  and  successful 
means  of  conveying  to  it  our  ideas.  It  is  the  most  con- 
crete method  of  teaching.  Stories  are  pictures  of  life — 
moving  pictures,  talking  pictures,  colored  pictures.  Their 
meaning  lies  on  the  surface.  They  reveal  every  phase  and 
principle  of  life.  The  story,  not  less  than  the  drama,  holds 
a  mirror  up  to  nature. 

The  story  reveals  life  broadly.  Most  of  us,  as  a  skilled 
story-teller  has  remarked,  live  only  one  kind  of  life,  and 
have  but  little  opportunity  to  come  into  contact  with  lives 
spent  under  totally  different  surroundings.  'Tut  yourself 
in  his  place"  has  been  said  to  be  the  most  needed  attitude 
in  the  world  to-day.  The  reason  why  the  child  is  in- 
capable of  putting  himself  in  the  place  of  others  is  because 
he  has  not  had  a  wide  experience  with  personal  suffer- 
ing, privation  and  adventure.  Real  experiences  of  such 
sorts  can  come  to  him  only  gradually,  some  of  them  not 
until  maturity.  Vicarious  experience  in  the  lives  of  others 
may  be  offered  him  through  stories.  There  is  no  more 
potent  method  of  broadening  social  imagination  and  thus 
developing  the  spirit  of  generosity  than  through  stories  of 
other  races  and  of  other  lands. 

Stories  reveal  not  only  the  natural  world  but  they 
interpret  the  world  of  fancy.  We  are  coming  to  recognize 
the  important  value  of  imagination  in  education.  The 
imaginative  man  is  the  joyous  man,  and,  as  we  have  been 
saying,  the  joyous  man  is  the  strong  man.  Says  Seumas 
McManus,  the  famous  Irish  story-teller,  "Story-telling  will 
make  the  child  father  to  a  more  kindhearted,  a  more  en- 
thusiastic, a  more  idealistic  man  than  the  one  taught  to  scorn 
story-telling.  The  story-telling  nations  of  the  world  are 
the  cheerful,  social,  enthusiastic,  idealistic  nations,  and  this 
because  story-telling  to  the  child  brings  out  all  the  better 
qualities, — sympathy,  imagination,  warm-heartedness,  so- 
ciability." 

A  story  is  of  great  value  in  training  the  memory. 
We  find  this  when  we  hear  young  children  demanding 


6  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

the  repetition  of  familiar  phrases  or  expressions.  Later 
they  like  to  hear  stories  retold,  even  if  the  element 
of  repetition  is  not  present.  It  has  been  noted  that  the 
child  who  has  been  accustomed  all  his  life  to  hearing  good 
stories  well  told  has  a  larger  vocabulary  and  a  wider  range 
of  intelligence  and  recollection  than  the  child  whose  story- 
telling has  been  neglected. 


THE    EMOTIONAL    VALUE 

The  story  as  an  emotional  influence  either  stimulates 
or  satisfies  the  feelings.  It  awakens  and  educates  real  and 
natural  feelings,  or  it  may  satisfy  feelings  which  are  already 
familiar.  An  instance  of  the  education  of  feelings  would 
be  a  story  in  which  a  story-teller  endeavored  to  excite  sym- 
pathy toward  living  creatures.  An  instance  of  satisfying 
feeling  would  be  a  story  in  which  a  sympathy  which  he 
knew  to  be  already  present  was  fully  expressed  by  him- 
self. Some  years  ago,  Rufus  Stanley,  now  director  of 
the  Omega  Club  for  boys  in  Elmira,  New  York,  was  asked 
by  Mr.  Z.  T.  Brockway,  then  superintendent  of  the  Elmira 
reformatory,  to  take  charge  for  a  few  Sundays  of  a  group 
of  about  300  young  men  and  older  boys  in  the  institution 
who  were  somewhat  defective  mentally.  The  problem 
of  addressing  them  successfully  was  naturally  a  very  diffi- 
cult one.  Mr.  Stanley  decided  to  tell  them  a  story.  In 
order  to  do  this  effectively,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should 
secure  a  live  wild  bird.  Being  himself  in  charge  of  the 
grounds,  he  had  opportunity  to  secure  the  co-operation  of 
a  large  force  of  inmates,  but  it  seemed  as  if  birds  never 
were  so  scarce  upon  the  grounds  as  they  were  on  that  par- 
ticular afternoon  when  he  wanted  one.  About  an  hour 
before  the  talk  was  to  be  given,  a  boy  from  the  city  brought 
him  a  little  blackbird  which  had  flown  through  an  open 
window  into  his  mother's  kitchen.  Attaching  the  little  bird 
to  his  hand,  Mr.  Stanley  brought  it  into  the  hall  where  the 


THE  VALUE  OF  STORY-TELLING  7 

young  fellows  were  gathered.  He  attracted  their  attention 
by  holding  it  in  plain  view,  and  then  he  told  them  its  story. 
He  pictured  its  migration  to  the  north  in  summer  and  im- 
agined its  numerous  adventures,  the  perils  in  its  flight,  its 
home-making  and  its  return.  He  made  the  suggestion  that 
the  little  bright  bird  would  be  an  attractive  companion  for 
them  in  a  cage.  He  brought  his  story  to  a  close  with  this 
question:  "Shall  we  keep  the  little  bird  or  shall  we  let  it 
go  free?"  With  one  hoarse  shout,  the  company  responded 
with  the  one  word,  "Free !"  Mr.  Stanley  smiled  and,  re- 
leasing the  bird,  it  flew  out  through  a  window  which  he 
had  cleverly  left  open  for  the  purpose,  into  the  sunlight. 
By  means  of  this  story,  Mr.  Stanley  had  both  educated 
their  feelings  and  satisfied  them.  He  recognized  their  love 
for  wild  life  and  he  expressed  their  own  native  desire  for 
freedom. 


STORIES    IN    CHARACTER    BUILDING 

In  answer  to  the  query,  Does  story-telling  help  in  build- 
ing character  ?  the  one  obvious  answer  is,  Men  have  always 
thought  so.  I  believe  it  is  Partridge  who  says  that  the  very 
origin  of  story-telling  was  in  the  instinct  to  teach.  It  is  an 
interesting  fact  that  the  method  of  the  story  is  still  very 
generally  used  among  primitive  peoples  in  the  training  of 
their  children.  Spencer,  in  his  book  "The  Education  of  the 
Pueblo  Child,"  tell  us  that  Pueblo  children  do  not  receive 
commands  to  do  or  to  refrain  from  doing  without  a  reason 
for  the  command  being  given.  "This  reason  is  given  in  the 
form  of  a  story  in  which  a  given  action  is  portrayed  with 
the  good  or  evil  resulting  to  the  doer.  These  legends,  or 
folk-tales,  are  very  numerous,  so  that  one  may  be  found 
illustrating  almost  any  case  that  may  arise."  He  also  says 
that  the  Pueblos  take  story-telling  as  a  form  of  training  so 
seriously  that  they  often  select  impressive  times  and  meth- 
ods by  which  to  lend  force  to  these  lessons.  "In  the  eve- 


8  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

ning,  when  the  fire  burns  low  and  the  room  is  dimly  lighted, 
is  a  favorite  time  for  the  repeating  of  those  tales,  and  the 
solemn,  hushed  tones  in  which  they  are  told,  together  with 
the  striking  postures  accompanying  them,  give  them  a 
weirdly  dramatic  effect."  His  testimony  is  that  the  method 
is  most  effective.  "They  exercise  a  profound  influence 
upon  the  children,  and  the  moral  laws  they  prescribe  are 
seldom  transgressed." 

"The  assertion  that  it  is  impossible  to  teach  morals, 
except  by  example  or  implication,"  says  Professor  Howard 
Moore,  "is  an  assertion  that  has  been  made  by  somebody 
in  the  past  and  has  been  passed  around  ever  since  without 
ever  having  been  challenged  or  investigated,  like  a  great 
many  of  our  other  so-called  truths.  Kindness,  honesty, 
humanity,  truthfulness,  and  moral  courage  can  be  taught  to 
young  minds  just  as  easily  and  effectively  as  Latin  or  arith- 
metic. All  that  is  necessary  is  to  begin  early  enough,  use 
ingenuity,  and  keep  at  it.  It  is  not  possible  to  teach  morality 
to  all  with  complete  success.  There  are  also  boys  and  girls 
who  cannot  learn  geometry  to  save  their  lives.  Yet  we  go 
on  teaching  it  for  200  hours  every  year,  even  though  our 
teaching  often  lands  in  stony  places.  As  a  general  rule, 
anything  can  be  taught  to  the  young  mind.  A  child  is  a  tin- 
pail  sitting  out  under  the  drip.  It  catches  everything  that 
comes  along.  The  power  to  choose,  the  power  to  accept 
some  things  and  reject  others,  is  acquired  later  in  life,  if  at 
all.  We  have  never  tried  to  teach  morals  and  humanity. 
We  have  been  content  to  preach  them,  which  is  a  very  dif- 
ferent thing  from  teaching  them.  Everything  else  that  has 
ever  been  done  or  thought  of,  in  the  heavens  above  or  in  the 
earth  beneath,  has  been  taught,  and  with  the  most  brilliant 
and  appealing  success.  And  with  the  same  science  and  per- 
sistence we  can  teach  those  truths  and  ways  of  acting 
which  are  the  very  vitals  of  order  and  civilization." 


THE  VALUE  OF  STORY-TELLING 


KOW    STORIES   ASSIST    IN    THE   DEVELOP- 
MENT   OF    CHARACTER 

It  has  been  customary  tp  consider  that  the  mental  life 
of  man  has  three  phases,  thinking,  feeling  and  willing. 
Story-telling  makes  each  of  these  factors  of  the  child  mind 
active. 

The  story  is  helpful,  in  the  first  place,  because  it  helps 
the  child  to  know  what  is  good.  It  encourages  moral 
thoughtfulness.  Children  are  not  born  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  even  if  they  were,  this 
"knowledge"  would  not  be  especially  effective.  Everything 
the  child  really  knows,  he  knows  in  terms  of  life.  Truth, 
to  him,  must  always  be  concrete.  To  the  child,  "Every 
boy's  a  fairy  prince  and  every  tale  is  true."  The  value  of 
dragons  is  that  they  make  evil  concrete  and  horrible  and 
the  value  of  fairies  is  that  they  make  goodness  concrete  and 
beautiful.  Fairy  godmothers  are  ministers  of  justice,  and 
through  the  moral  contests  in  the  children's  stories  which 
he  hears  the  child  visualizes  his  own  struggles. 

"There  the  sword  Excalibur  is  thrust  into  the  dragon's  throat ; 

Evil  there  is  evil,  black  is  black  and  white  is  white; 
There  the  child  triumphant  hurls  the  villain  spluttering  in  the  moat ; 

There  the  captive  princess  only  waits  the  peerless  knight." 

Many  a  moral  victory,  like  many  a  victory  upon  the 
battlefield,  is  won  or  lost  before  the  actual  struggle  has 
begun.  The  battle  is  decided  in  the  preliminary  skirmish 
of  contending  mental  images.  If  the  child  is  stocked  up 
with  virtuous  and  inspiring  mental  images,  through  stories, 
his  imagination  already  is  captured  by  goodness. 

Stories  not  only  help  the  child  to  know  what  is  good, 
but  they  help  him  to  want  to  know  what  is  good.  The  child 
himself  is  morally  alert,  but  stories  make  him  even  more 
alert.  They  help  him,  as  Prof.  Frank  C.  Sharp  has  said, 
to  "try  to  develop  the  habit  of  asking  and  the  power  of 


10  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

answering  the  question,  What  is  the  right  course  of  action?" 
As  he  brightly  says,  "They  reduce  the  amount  of  moral 
illiteracy." 

The  story  is  helpful,  in  the  second  place,  because  it 
helps  the  child  to  feel  what  is  good.  The  child  is  by  nature 
prepared  to  feel  strongly  in  response  to  stories.  The  child 
is  essentially  sympathetic.  Innately,  he  seems  to  hate 
a  task  and  to  love  a  story.  As  Partridge  says,  "the  Sleep- 
ing Beauty  awakes,  the  Prince  comes,  the  Fairy  God- 
mother prevails  over  the  witch,  at  the  earnest  and  urgent 
demand  of  the  heart  of  the  child."  And  then  he  puts  in 
italics  the  following  statement:  "To  make  the  child  feel 
intensely  the  strivings  of  others,  and  to  make  him  feel  the 
light  and  shades  of  feeling  in  many  a  live  situation  is  to 
give  him  an  opportunity  for  moral  training  and  an  exhorta- 
tion to  be  good."  When  the  story  is  told  in  such  a  way 
that  goodness  triumphs  and  the  child  wishes  goodness  to 
triumph,  he  is  receiving  a  vivid  experience  of  the  value  of 
goodness.  He  believes  that  life  and  goodness  are  worth 
while.  Just  as  it  is  true,  as  Charles  Eliot  Norton  used  to 
say,  that  "A  book  is  dangerous  if  it  makes  life  seem  unin- 
teresting," so  a  story  is  dangerous  if  it  makes  life  seem 
less  worth  while.  On  the  contrary,  if  a  story  to  a  child  adds 
to  his  valuation  of  goodness  in  life,  it  has  manifestly  en- 
riched his  experience.  When  we  do  this,  we  do  not  appeal 
merely  to  the  child's  sensitive  feelings,  but  also  to  some- 
thing deeper  in  his  nature.  We  touch  his  most  deeply 
rooted  admirations,  his  love  of  fair  play,  his  love  of  loyalty, 
the  unselfish  impulses  of  his  nature,  and  when  we  recognize 
and  bring  these  to  the  surface,  we  are  like  the  skilled 
musician  who  opens  an  instrument  and  touches  to  beautiful 
harmony  strings  that  are  already  in  tune.  We  are  doing  the 
very  important  thing  of  educating  the  child's  desires. 

The  very  mood  in  which  a  child  listens  to  stories  is 
helpful  to  our  end.  A  good  story  makes  the  child  happy ; 
and  joy  is  strength.  A  tale  which  has  touched  his  better 
feelings  and  given  him  a  vicarious  experience  of  being  good 


THE  VALUE  OF  STORY-TELLING  11 

himself  sends  him  out  with  greater  courage  actually  to  do 
good.  Even  the  sweet  sadness  of  the  pathetic  tale,  if  it 
be  not  mawkish  in  its  sentimentality,  strengthens  rather 
than  subdues  the  spirit.  Brushing  away  the  happy  tears 
that  come  in  response  to  a  tale  of  injured  virtue  or  of 
dramatic  self-sacrifice,  the  child  turns  back  to  life  invigor- 
ated and  cheered. 

It  is  still  true,  as  the  old  Hebrew  sage  told  us,  that  "out 
of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of  life."  It  is  really  the  heart 
rather  than  the  intellect  that  must  be  convinced  if  the  hu- 
man being  is  to  be  changed.  It  is  not  only  much  more  en- 
couraging, but  it  is  much  more  effective  to  be  able,  through 
a  story,  to  persuade  a  child  that  such  and  such  things  have 
been  done  rather  than  through  command  to  tell  him  that 
such  and  such  things  should  be  done. 

The  story  is  helpful,  in  the  third  place,  because  it  helps 
the  child  to  will  what  is  good.  No  child  listens  to  a  story 
passively.  He  instantly  personalizes  himself  as  the  hero 
of  the  tale  to  which  he  is  listening.  In  imagination,  what 
the  hero  does  he  does.  Thus  he  really  reacts  to  a  moral 
situation.  This  means  that  he  is  unconsciously  taking  sides, 
choosing.  If  this  be  true  in  a  single  story,  how  much  more 
effectively  is  it  true  when  the  child  has  been  in  the  habit 
of  listening  to  many  inspiring  stories.  If  it  is  a  fact,  as 
psychologists  tell  us,  that  the  mind  works  through  grooves 
of  ideas  furnished,  and  that,  while  it  still  has  a  certain  free- 
dom in  choosing  a  lot  of  new  grooves  and  in  leaving  out  a 
lot  of  old  things,  it  chiefly  runs  along  the  rails  of  the  ideas 
which  have  already  been  laid  down,  then  it  is  apparent  that 
to  furnish  the  child  a  series  of  good  stories  is  building  a 
road-way  along  which  the  will,  as  it  develops,  may  most 
easily  run.  So  the  battlefield  of  life  may  be  used,  through 
stories,  to  show  the  child  how  to  summon  to  his  assistance 
allies  which  will  assist  him  in  sweeping  opposition  from  his 
path.  When  he  listens  to  such  stories  he  signals  his  allies 
to  his  side. 


12  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


THE    SOCIAL    HELPS    THE    MORAL    VALUE 

The  influence  of  story-telling  upon  the  will  is  not  only 
in  what  the  story  incites  the  child  to  do,  but  in  the  relation 
between  the  story-teller  herself  and  the  child.  Miss  Sara 
Cone  Bryant  gives  a  very  pretty  little  incident  of  her  suc- 
cessful endeavor  by  means  of  stories  to  win  the  confidence 
and  affections  of  a  shy  young  niece.  The  evening  effort  did 
not  seem  to  succeed,  but  it  was  different  in  the  morning, 
after  she  had  assisted  at  the  little  girl's  toilet,  with  some 
more  stories.  "When  the  curls  were  all  curled  and  the  last 
little  button  buttoned,  my  baby  niece  climbed  hastily  down 
from  her  chair,  and  deliberately  up  in  my  lap.  With  a 
caress  rare  to  her  habit,  she  spoke  my  name,  slowly  and 
tentatively,  'An-ty  Sai-ry  ?'  Then,  in  an  assured  tone,  ' Anty 
Sairy,  I  love  you  so  much  I  don't  know  what  to  do !'  And 
presently,  tucking  a  confiding  hand  in  mine  to  lead  me  to 
breakfast,  she  exclaimed  sweetly,  'I  didn'  know  you  when 
you  corned  las'  night,  but  now  I  know  you  all  th'  time !' ' 
The  child,  through  the  story,  is  brought  sympathetically 
near,  not  only  to  the  virtue  of  which  the  story  tells,  but  to 
the  story-teller  herself.  In  discipline,  a  story  is  better  than 
scolding  and  clearer  than  a  command.  The  personality  of 
the  story-teller,  not  only  kindly  and  good,  but  also  strong  and 
wise,  remains  after  the  story  is  over  to  co-operate  and  thus 
to  help  strengthen  the  will  to  make  an  effort  toward  virtu- 
ous activities. 

William  T.  Hornaday  gives  a  beautiful  reminiscence  in 
his  "American  Natural  History"  of  this  combined  influence 
of  motherly  teaching  and  fellowship  upon  conduct  in  later 
life. 

'To  me  the  mourning-dove  has  always  seemed  a  sacred 
bird,"  says  he,  "and  although  I  could  have  killed  thousands 
of  them,  I  have  never  taken  the  life  of  one.  When  a  very 
small  boy  at  my  mother's  knee  she  related  to  me  the  story 
of  the  winged  messenger  sent  out  by  Noah  to  look  for  real 


THE  VALUE  OF  STORY-TELLING  13 

estate.  She  told  me  that  doves  were  innocent  and  harmless 
birds,  and  that  I  must  never  wrong  one  in  the  least.  Had 
my  good  mother  issued  an  injunction  covering  the  whole 
animal  kingdom,  I  think  I  would  have  grown  up  as  harm- 
less to  animals  as  any  Hindoo;  for  her  solemn  charge 
regarding  mourning-doves  has  always  seemed  as  binding 
as  the  Ten  Commandments.  I  mention  this  in  order  to  point 
out  to  parents  and  teachers  the  vast  influence  they  may 
easily  wield  in  behalf  of  our  wild  creatures,  which  are  in 
sore  need  of  protection." 


THE   LIMITATIONS    OF   STORY-TELLING 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  virtue  per  se.  Character  is 
altogether  a  matter  of  a  human  being's  relation  to  society. 
What  we  are  trying  to  develop  is  not  abstract  qualities  of 
will  t)Ut  real  and  living  relationships.  If  we  are  not  careful 
we  shall  be  doing  what  so  many  have  done  in  the  past, 
teaching  the  "virtues"  instead  of  bringing  the  children 
face  to  face  with  concrete  duties.  "Let  us,"  insists  Prof. 
George  A.  Coe,  "stop  studying  the  Virtues'  and  study  in- 
stead what  men  do  and  why  they  do  it."  J.  Lewis  Paton, 
a  successful  English  schoolmaster,  criticizes  the  method  of 
moral  instruction  which  has  been  made  famous  by  F.  J. 
Gould  of  the  British  Moral  Education  League.  "He  tells 
the  story  of  the  taming  of  Bucephalus,  and  draws  out  most 
skilfully  the  appropriate  moral:  the  pill  with  Mr.  Gould 
tastes  almost  as  nice  as  the  jam.  But  suppose  you  brought 
me  a  boy  lacking  in  self-control  and  asked  me  how  he  was 
to  learn  self-control — I  should  not  dream  of  suggesting  Mr. 
Gould's  book.  I  should  say:  Let  him  play  football  with 
the  other  boys,  and  see  that  he  plays  hard.  When  he  has, 
with  the  ball  in  his  hands,  broken  through  the  opposing 
lines,  receiving  in  the  process  a  whack  on  the  head  and  a 
kick  on  the  shins,  and  then,  triumphantly  crossing  the  line, 
and  touching  down  the  ball  between  the  enemy's  goal  posts, 


14  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

is  recalled  by  the  referee's  whistle  and  his  try  is  disallowed, 
because  the  referee  had  thought  he  had  run  on  to  the  touch- 
line — that  not  being  the  case — then,  I  say,  if  the  boy  bears 
all  that  without  mentioning  any  towns  in  Holland,  but 
smiles  genially  at  the  referee  and  the  full-back  who  hacked 
him,  and  starts  off  again  to  play  up  and  play  the  game  as 
hard  as  ever — then,  I  say,  however  ignorant  that  boy  may 
be  of  Bucephalus,  he  has  learned  in  practice  the  lesson  of 
self-control;  and  I  don't  myself  see  how  he  could  learn  it 
better." 


IT   TAKES   BOTH   WORK   AND    FRIENDSHIP 
TO    MAKE    A    LIFE 

Stories  cannot  take  the  place  of  life.  Recognize  this 
clearly  and  remember  this  lesson — that  no  story  is  of  value 
that  does  not  relate  the  child  directly  to  life,  and  we  shall 
continue  to  endeavor  to  tell  stories  skilfully  and  also  en- 
deavor to  help  children  to  live  actively.  "Let  us  agree  at 
once,"  Mrs.  Ella  Lyman  Cabot  concedes,  "that  stories  are 
not  substitutes  for  right-doing,  but  only  one  among  the  rein- 
forcements of  right-doing.  Character  grows  mainly  in  two 
ways :  through  work  well  done,  and  through  the  contagious 
example  of  people  whom  we  love  and  admire.  These  two 
influences,  work  and  friendship,  will  always  be  the  greatest 
spurs  to  right-doing.  Yet  I  believe  that  ethical  teaching 
can  supplement  them  and  can  help  to  bring  out  their  mean- 
ing. A  lover  of  birds  haunts  their  favorite  woods  and 
meadows ;  but  does  he  not  also  find  it  wise  now  and  again 
to  enter  a  natural-history  museum  where,  ranged  in  rows, 
a  little  stiffly,  are  all  his  woodland  friends?  There  he  can 
study  thoroughly  and  quietly  their  characteristics ;  there  he 
can  compare  one  with  another,  noticing  the  variations  in 
color  and  distinguishing  members  of  the  same  species. 
When  he  goes  back  to  the  fields,  it  will  be  with  keener  eyes. 
Ethical  lessons  may  well  bring  this  help.  They  will  help 


THE  VALUE  OF  STORY-TELLING  15 

us  to  see  quietly,  before  temptation  arises,  what  is  the  right 
act.  Many  acts  of  dishonesty,  discourtesy,  cruelty,  and 
self-deceit  are  due  primarily  to  lack  of  clear  thought  and 
quickened  imagination.  I  believe  that  ethical  teaching  at 
its  best  is  a  quickening  spirit,  a  call  to  the  soul,  a  life  creat- 
ing life.  Among  the  greatest  citizens  of  my  state,  I  number 
one  who  from  boyhood  has  saturated  himself  with  all  that 
he  can  learn  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  That  life  is  no  biography 
to  him,  nor  is  it  a  good  example.  It  is  a  voice  calling.  He 
has  answered  it.  Every  year  he  is  finding  new  ways  of 
responding  to  it.  I  cannot  conceive  his  life  without  that  of 
Lincoln  his  master,  whom  he  never  saw.  If  by  any  lessons 
about  the  leaders  of  men,  we  can  give  a  single  child  such 
a  sense  of  the  presence  of  Lincoln  as  my  friend  bears  about 
with  him,  years  of  toil  will  not  be  too  much." 


WHY   TELL  STORIES? 

But  why  tell  rather  than  read  stories?  Seumas  Mc- 
Manus  answers:  ''Story-telling  is  superior  to  the  written 
story  chiefly  because  the  man  who  writes  is  not  in  touch 
with  the  audience.  The  story-teller  talks  to  you,  and  has  to 
make  a  story  from  beginning  to  end,  and  every  sentence  has 
to  be  a  part  of  the  story,  because  he  is  within  range  of  a 
brickbat — and  subject  to  the  recall  at  any  minute." 

And  why  tell  children  stories  rather  than  encourage 
them  to  read  them  themselves  ?  Of  course  we  do  both,  but 
Mr.  McManus  answers  again :  "I  think  story-telling  is  to 
story-reading  what  the  eating  of  a  meal  is  to  reading  the 
bill-of-fare.  The  story-reading  nations  of  the  world  are 
the  morose  nations,  because  the  reader's  a  selfish  man  who 
goes  away  into  a  corner  with  his  book,  becomes  oblivious 
to  the  world  around  him,  and  gives  back  to  the  world 
nothing.  Talk  about  land  hogs,  car  hogs,  end-seat  hogs— I 
think  the  worst  of  them  all  is  the  book  hog." 

By  means  of  the  story,  the  story-teller  adds  to  the  in- 


16  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

tellectual  value  of  the  tale  the  power  of  his  own  person- 
ality. Of  this  we  shall  speak  further  in  our  suggestions 
concerning  methods  of  story-telling.  Beyond  this  advantage 
is  the  added  charm  of  the  personal  element  which  forms 
a  kind  of  halo  to  the  story.  When  you  make  a  story  your 
own  and  tell  it,  the  listener  gets  the  story  plus  your  appre- 
ciation of  it.  It  comes  to  him  filtered  through  your  own 
enjoyment. 

If  one  were  asked  how  late  in  life  stories  seem  to 
charm,  his  answer  might  well  be  the  same  that  he  would 
give  if  he  were  asked  when  old  men  cease  to  love.  Grown- 
ups seem  to  share,  when  they  hear  a  story  well  told,  the 
feeling  expressed  once  to  the  writer  so  sweetly  by  a  Quaker 
maiden  of  fourteen  when  he  was  apologizing  to  her  for 
assuming  to  interest  her  in  a  story  that  he  had  just  told, 
since  it  was  only  for  children.  She  replied :  "I  am  always 
a  child  when  thee  is  speaking." 


II 

VARIOUS  KINDS  OF  STORIES 

"World-old  and  beautiful  stories, 
Which  I  once,  when  little, 
From  the  neighbors'   children  have  heard 
When  we,  on  summer  evenings, 
Sat  on  the  steps  before  the  house-door, 
Bending  us  down  to  the  quiet  narrative 
With  little  listening  hearts." — Heinrich  Heine. 

Story-telling  is  an  art  of  such  dignity  that  it  has  a  his- 
tory. Among  each  people  a  certain  kind  of  story  arises 
at  a  certain  stage  of  development  and  then  at  a  later  stage 
is  succeeded  by  another  kind  of  story. 


THE   PRIMITIVE    STORY 

First  comes  the  primitive  story.  It  is  chiefly  a  story 
of  the  forest  and  of  the  animal  world.  It  represents,  so 
Partridge  thinks,  the  effort  of  early  peoples,  struggling  with 
their  yet  unmastered  circumstances,  to  obtain  some  satis- 
faction from  their  unyielding  world.  In  the  story,  giants 
are  not  wholly  unconquerable.  "The  good  fairy  grants  the 
wish  that  nature  denies."  "The  stories  tell  about  the  things 
of  nature;  but  beneath  it  all  he  is  telling  the  story  of  his 
own  desires,  hopes,  fears  and  disappointments.  In  his  story 
it  is  he  himself  who  is  contending  with  and  defeating  the 
giant ;  who  meets  the  god  face  to  face ;  who  wins  the  super- 
natural bride.  ...  It  keeps  him  hopeful  amid  dangers  and 
the  certainty  of  death  and  disaster."  Also  the  primitive 


18  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

story  seems  to  hark  back  to  the  time  when  man  felt  a  closer 
kinship  with  the  animals,  and  perhaps  traced  his  descent 
from  them.  We  see  these  two  ideas,  kinship  with  the  ani- 
mals and  satisfaction  in  personal  conquest,  in  the  Uncle 
Remus  tales,  which  are  really  primitive  African  stories  in 
which  the  negro  race  identifies  itself  with  merry,  shrewd 
and  ever  triumphant  Br'er  Rabbit. 

MYTHS 

After  the  primitive  stories  come  the  myths.  The  myth 
differs  from  the  primitive  story  in  containing  more  philoso- 
phy. It  is  the  primitive  story  adultized.  Sometimes  it  has 
been  perpetuated  into  a  civilized  age  and  made  sophisti- 
cated, or  polished  into  a  parable,  or  filled  full  of  adult 
experience.  For  these  reasons  Partridge  thinks  the  Greek 
myths  are  too  symbolic,  too  sexual,  too  subtle,  less  suitable 
for  the  child  than  the  Norse,  which  were  cut  off  while 
still  nearer  the  nature  stage. 

FAIRY    STORIES 

Following  myths  are  fairy  stories.  The  fairy  story  is 
what  happens  to  a  myth  when  people  have  ceased  to  believe 
it.  It  is  just  this  mood  of  half  belief  or  pure  fancy  which 
causes  it  to  appeal  to  a  child.  The  nature  element  is  still 
there,  the  feeling  if  not  the  faith  is  preserved  and  the  play- 
ful treatment  brings  it  where  the  child  can  apprehend  it. 
For  a  time  the  child  himself  believes  it.  It  has  for  him 
some  religious  significance.  As  Partridge  says,  "It  keeps 
the  supernatural  alive  and  real  to  the  child,  shows  the 
world  full  of  friendliness  and  exalts  the  good-will  prin- 
ciple." 

THE   EPIC    STORIES 

Next  come  the  epic  stories.  The  myths  have  gathered 
about  heroes,  who  often  absorb  into  their  mighty  personali- 


VARIOUS  KINDS  OF  STORIES  19 

ties  the  adventures  of  many  brave  men  and  the  qualities 
admired  of  all  men.  What  once  was  attributed  of  glory 
to  the  sun  or  to  spiritual  powers  is  now  granted  to  man- 
kind. "It  is  the  story  of  man  becoming  self-conscious." 
Without  realizing  it  fully,  the  bard  finds  within  himself 
that  which  he  awards  to  his  hero. 


BIOGRAPHY    AND    PURPOSIVE    STORIES 

By  this  time  literature  has  appeared,  and  the  epic  story 
takes  the  more  careful  and  literal  forms  of  biography  and 
history.  The  story-teller  speaks  now  not  solely  for  the  joy 
of  creating  but  with  the  desire  to  improve  others,  espe- 
cially children,  and  we  have  the  purposive  story,  such  as 
the  fable  and  parable,  both  usually  amplifications  of  old 
animal  or  folk-tales.  Finally,  we  come  to  the  portrayal  of 
real  and  modern  life  in  the  realistic  story,  in  the  forms  of 
romantic  and  photographic  fiction. 


STORY-TELLING   POEMS 

We  did  not  mention  among  the  literary  forms  that 
may  be  used  in  story-telling,  poetry.  For  story-reading 
poetry  is  excellent,  since  the  great  myths  and  legends  and 
hero-tales  have  been  sung  in  verse  with  the  music  of  ring- 
ing words  and  the  accompaniment  of  tramping  melodies. 

"Bright  is  the  ring  of  words 

When  the  right  man  rings  them; 
Sweet  is  the  fall  of  songs 
When  the  singer  sings  them." 

But  for  story-telling,  except  to  those  who  memorize 
readily,  poetry  is  a  limitation,  because  the  teller  is  neces- 
sarily restricted  to  the  words  and  metres  of  the  original 
and  can  find  scope  for  no  imaginativeness  or  originality 


20  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

of  his  own.  As  the  story-teller  is  himself  a  bard  rather 
than  a  reciter,  he  is  usually  freer,  except  for  an  occasional 
apt  quotation,  if  he  sticks  to  rhythmic  prose. 

Persons  who  have  good  verbal  memories  are  to  be 
congratulated  as  having  the  capacity  to  give  children  stories 
beautified  by  melody  and  rhyme.  "I  have  seen  a  child  of 
three  thrilled  almost  to  ecstasy,"  is  the  testimony  of  Louise 
Seymour  Houghton,  "by  The  Splendor  Falls  on  Castle 
Walls/  and  even  by  'Lady  Clara  Vere  de  Vere.'  I  am  at  a 
loss  for  words  to  estimate  what  I  consider  the  moral  and 
spiritual  value  of  thus  awakening  and  keeping  alive  the 
faculty  of  intense  joy.  It  is  by  means  such  as  this  that  we 
make  our  children  grow  up  whole  and  all  round  characters, 
able  to  appreciate  the  value  of  a  'wholesome  artistic  life/ 
as  Professor  Henderson  puts  it,  referring  at  the  same  time 
to  Milton's  fine  phrase,  'simple,  sensuous,  passionate.'  " 

These  constitute  the  story-teller's  treasury,  and  as  we 
shall  see  in  the  next  chapter,  each  has  its  place  in  its  own 
period  in  a  child's  life. 


Ill 

STORIES  THAT   CHILDREN   LIKE 

"That  beautiful  interest  in  wild  tales  which  made  the  child  a 
man,  while  all  the  time  he  suspected  himself  to  be  no  bigger  than  a 
child."— Stepkani  Schutze. 

Children  in  a  general  way  follow  in  their  story  tastes 
the  evolution  of  stories. 

STORIES   WITH    SENSE   APPEAL 

They  first  like  stories  with  sense  appeal.  They  like 
jingles  because  they  gratify  the  sense  for  rhythm.  They 
like  finger  plays  because  they  gratify  the  sense  of  touch 
and  the  muscular  sense.  They  like  action  plays  because 
they  gratify  the  sense  of  locomotion.  The  mention  of  color, 
sound,  food  and  drink  in  a  story  brings  back  pleasant  recol- 
lections, stimulates  the  imagination  and  arouses  sense  asso- 
ciations which  it  is  especially  desirable  to  stimulate  in  a 
dormant  child.  The  Mother  Goose  rhymes  are  not  only 
easily  remembered,  but  the  people  in  them,  Bo  Peep,  Little 
Boy  Blue,  Mother  Hubbard  and  the  rest,  who  pass  through 
familiar  sense  experiences  and  who  are  made  individual 
and  real  usually  in  books  by  bright  illustrations,  satisfy 
that  foreshadowing  human  interest  which  is  in  later  years 
to  become  the  most  potent  attraction  of  any  story. 

FAIRY    STORIES 

Soon  after  the  imagination  becomes  really  active,  say 
by  five  or  six,  when  the  child  is  mature  enough  to  throw 

21 


22  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

himself  into  a  fanciful  situation,  he  is  ready  for  fairy 
stories.  Through  fairy  stories  he  may  have  access  to  the 
primitive  story,  full  of  nature  and  animal  interest  and  shorn 
of  part  of  its  horror,  because  as  Andrew  Lang  says,  "You 
will  not  be  afraid  of  magicians  and  dragons"  since  "a  really 
brave  child  was  always  their  master."  We  may  learn  some- 
thing as  to  the  enjoyable  element  in  fairy  stories  from 
certain  facts  of  child  nature.  For  instance,  one  of  the  well- 
known  characteristics  of  the  child  is  his  feeling  of  kinship 
with  the  plant  and  animal  world.  You  will  hear  a  child  in 
the  garden  talking  lovingly  to  the  flowers,  chasing  the  butter- 
flies as  if  they  were  comrades,  and  thinking  of  the  animals 
as  if  they  were  almost  human.  This  identification  of  man 
with  plant  and  animal  life  is  one  of  the  most  familiar  char- 
acteristics of  the  fairy  story  and  the  fable.  Such  nature- 
sympathy  is  particularly  common  in  the  German  folk  tales. 
"They  are  pervaded,"  says  Felix  Adler,  "by  the  poetry 
of  forest  life,  are  full  of  the  sense  of  mystery  and  awe, 
which  is  apt  to  overcome  one  on  penetrating  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  woods,  away  from  human  habitations.  They 
deal  with  the  underground  life  of  nature,  which  weaves  in 
caverns  and  in  the  heart  of  mountains,  where  gnomes  and 
dwarfs  are  at  work  gathering  hidden  treasures.  And  with 
this  underground  life  children  have  a  marvelous  sympathy. 
They  present  glowing  pictures  of  sheltered  firesides,  where 
man  finds  rest  and  security  from  howling  winds  and  nipping 
cold.  But  perhaps  their  chief  attraction  is  due  to  their 
representing  the  child  as  living  in  brotherly  fellowship  with 
nature  and  all  creatures.  Trees,  flowers,  animals,  wild  and 
tame,  even  the  stars,  are  represented  as  the  comrades  of 
children.  That  animals  are  only  human  beings  in  disguise 
is  an  axiom  in  fairy  tales.  Animals  are  humanized — i.  e., 
the  kinship  between  animal  and  human  life  is  still  strongly 
felt.  Plants,  too,  are  often  represented  as  incarnations  of 
human  spirits.  Thus  the  twelve  lilies  are  inhabited  by  the 
twelve  brothers,  and  in  the  story  of  Snow  White  and  Rose 
Red  the  life  of  the  two  maidens  appears  to  be  bound  up 


STORIES  THAT  CHILDREN  LIKE  23 

with  the  life  of  the  white  and  red  rosebush.  The  kinship 
of  all  life  whatsoever  is  still  realized." 

Another  characteristic  of  childhood  is  its  love  for  mas- 
querading. This  liking  is  satisfied  in  stories  in  which  the 
leading  character  is  in  disguise.  The  prince  masquerades 
as  a  toad ;  the  fairy  godmother  as  a  decrepit  old  lady ;  the 
heroine  is  dressed  in  rags,  etc.  Any  "transformation 
scene"  in  the  solution  of  the  mystery  of  a  story  is  analogous 
to  the  unmasking  which  children  enjoy  so  much  in  their 
masquerading  play.  The  moral  appeal  of  such  stories,  well 
told,  is  that  they  are  rehearsals  of  what  the  child  is  or  would 
like  to  be.  Therefore  he  enters  the  situation  of  the  story 
with  sympathy,  and  feels  as  its  hero  feels. 

There  seems  to  be  reason  to  suppose  that  children  like 
fairy  stories  told  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  such  as  was 
commended  a  few  years  ago  by  a  writer  in  Blackwood's, 
who  defines  their  style  as  that  of  the  first  quarter  of  the 
nineteenth  century, — a  little  stilted  and  filled  with  such  ex- 
clamations as,  "Vastly  well,  madam." 

A  fable  is  a  sort  of  desiccated  animal  story,  and  is  not 
the  most  successful  kind  of  an  imaginative  story  because  it 
is  so  short  and  contains  so  little  plot  and  does  not  appeal 
strongly  to  the  fancy.  It  should  be  placed  with  fairy  stories. 
Parables  and  allegories,  which  appeal  so  strongly  to  the 
adult  liking  for  solving  puzzles,  are  not  usually  so  effective 
with  children,  whose  imagination  tends  to  dwell  upon  the 
literal  details  rather  than  to  pass  on  to  the  deeper  meaning. 
They  would  be  indicated,  with  the  realistic  stories,  from 
about  the  tenth  year  on. 


HERO-TALES 

By  the  seventh  year,  as  Richard  T.  Wyche  points  out, 
the  child  "discovers  that  the  cow  did  not  jump  over  the 
moon,  as  the  Mother  Goose  rhyme  had  it,  and  that  Santa 
Claus  is  not  as  he  thought  at  first."  But  for  a  time  he  en- 


24  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

joys  hero-tales.  Perhaps  they  are  wonder-tales,  but  they 
are  not  wonder-tales  to  him,  for  in  every  one  of  those 
mythical  or  epical  tales  "he  imagines  himself,"  as  Miss 
Cowles  says,  "the  hero  of  such  wonderful  and  impossible 
adventures  that  when  he  is  told  of  Phaeton  and  his  mad 
ride,  he  accepts  it  with  the  same  calm  appreciation  which 
is  accorded  the  imaginings  of  his  own  creative  moods.  The 
slaying  of  the  Gorgon  is  fully  in  harmony  with  his  own 
future  plans." 

By  the  later  years  of  childhood,  say  from  ten  to  twelve, 
when  imagination  has  become  more  sober,  there  is  an 
increasing  demand  for  stories  of  actual  heroes,  of  real 
men  and  women,  and  of  boys  and  girls  of  his  own  age. 
The  hero  is  the  actual  successor  of  the  giant  of  the  wonder- 
tale.  He  satisfies  the  imagination  which  still  pleads  for 
achievement  but  which  is  now  irritated  by  the  impossible. 

"Ay,   let  us   tell   the  generous  tale 

Of  giants  real  and  bold, 
Who  grew  so  great  they  would  not  stoop 
To  gather  fame  and  gold; 

"But  hurled  the  mountains  from  our  path, 

And  drained  our  quagmires  dry, 
And  held  our  foes  at  bay  the  while 
They  bore  our  weaklings  by." 

THE  DIFFERING  TASTES  OF  BOYS  AND 
GIRLS 

The  tastes  of  boys  and  girls  begin  to  differentiate  just 
before  adolescence ;  they  have  been  summarized  by  Frances 
J.  Olcott  as  follows : 

"As  a  boy's  practical  interest  evolves,  he  being  objec- 
tive by  nature,  prefers  stories  of  athletics,  of  daring  adven- 
tures, thrilling  dangers  and  escapes,  also  of  gregarious  life, 
such  as  the  experiences  of  gangs,  pirates  and  robber-bands, 
and  members  of  secret  societies  and  clubs.  He  enjoys  his- 


STORIES  THAT  CHILDREN  LIKE  25 

i 

tory,  biography  and  books  that  show  him  how  to  make 
and  do  things. 

"A  girl,  with  intense  subjectivity,  reads  by  preference 
stones  of  play,  home,  and  school  life;  the  burden  of  which 
too  often  is  painful  mental  suffering  over  small  sins,  and 
misunderstandings.  As  she  grows  older,  she  enjoys  simple 
love  stories  of  a  romantic  nature. 

"The  natural  instincts  of  a  girl  are  narrower  than  a 
boy's.  They  may  be  broadened,  however,  if  some  one  whom 
she  admires  takes  an  active  part  in  directing  her  reading, 
for  the  girl  is  a  hero-worshiper,  and  is  willing  to  be  guided 
by  the  judgment  of  one  whom  she  likes.  On  the  other  hand, 
a  boy  is  cautious  about  taking  advice  from  any  one  who 
does  not  agree  with  his  definite  likes  for  things  and  actions ; 
this  is  especially  true  of  his  reading/' 

This  realistic  period  acts  as  a  boundary  between  two 
eras  of  strong  imagination  and  feeling,  the  childhood  era 
of  fairy  stories  and  wonder-tales  and  the  adolescent  era  of 
romance.  During  adolescence  is  the  time  for  the  epics  and 
the  great  story-books  of  the  world.  The  time  for  love 
stories  does  not  come  until  the  youth  is  partly  through  this 
period,  to  girls  a  year  or  two  earlier  than  to  boys.  Late  in 
the  period  those  youths  who  form  the  reading  habit  grow 
fond  of  biography  and  history. 


STORY-TASTES  ARE  DEFINED  BY 
EXPERIENCE 

The  story-tastes  of  children  are  defined  by  their  expe- 
rience as  well  as  by  their  development.  Especially  among 
young  children  is  it  needful  to  endeavor  to  realize  what 
the  limitations  of  their  travel  and  observation  are.  Miss 
Bailey  records  that  she  was  once  about  to  attempt  Seumas 
MacManus'  humorous  story  of  Billy  Beg  and  His  Bull 
to  some  small  people  on  the  East  Side  of  New  York,  when 
it  occurred  to  her  to  wonder  whether  any  one  of  them  had 


26  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

ever  seen  a  bull.  Only  one  had,  and  this  was  his  illumi- 
nating description :  "a  bigger  cow,  with  bicycle  handle-bars 
on  her  head !"  The  East  Side  would  not  appear  to  be  the 
best  place  in  the  world  to  tell  the  bull  story.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion whether  the  usual  emphasis  in  the  Primary  Depart- 
ments of  Sunday  schools  upon  the  Twenty-third  Psalm  and 
the  Parable  of  the  Good  Shepherd  is  not  misplaced,  where 
most  of  the  children  have  never  seen  a  sheep.  To  them 
a  story  of  a  cat  and  her  kittens  would  be  more  immediately 
intelligible. 

Miss  Bailey  sensibly  propounds  the  following  six  ques- 
tions to  be  asked  by  any  story-teller  before  she  addresses 
her  audience: 

What  do  these  children  know? 

Have  they  any  experience  other  than  that  of  the  home? 

Do  they  come  from  homes  of  leisure  or  homes  of 
industry  ? 

Have  they  had  a  country  or  city  experience  ? 

Do  they  play  with  toys  or  games  of  chance? 

Are  they  Americans  or  aliens? 

"When  she  has  satisfactorily  answered  these  questions, 
the  story-teller  will  select  her  story  having  for  its  theme, 
atmosphere  and  motif  an  idea  or  group  of  ideas  that  will 
touch  the  child's  mental  life  as  she  has  discovered  it  and  by 
means  of  which  it  will  find  a  permanent  place  in  his  mind 
through  its  comfortable  friendliness  and  familiarity."  A 
story  that  finds  a  child  where  he  is  at  home  is  "like  a 
friendly  hand-grasp." 

This  does  not  mean  that  every  fact  in  a  story  must  be 
a  familiar  one.  Take  the  Story  of  the  Three  Bears.  The 
child  has  never  seen  a  bear,  but  he  is  familiar  with  every 
other  thing  in  the  story,  a  house,  a  bed,  porridge,  chairs, 
a  little  gir),  and  he  has  seen  pictures  of  bears.  In  imagina- 
tive stories  all  children  from  all  circumstances  in  life  find 
a  common  ground  of  democracy.  A  beggar  child  as  well 
as  a  poor  little  rich  girl  can  dream  of  a  fairy  and  a  princess. 


STORIES  THAT  CHILDREN  LIKE  27 

FUNNY  STORIES   AND   SAD   STORIES 

A  word  about  funny  stories  and  sad  stories.  As  the 
story-teller  soon  discovers,  fun,  especially  for  the  young 
child,  consists  chiefly  in  the  situation.  The  story  of  Bre'r 
Rabbit  and  the  Tar  Baby,  which  even  adults  enjoy,  is  per- 
haps the  finest  illustration  of  a  story  which  is  excruciatingly 
funny  to  the  child. 

As  for  sad  stories,  do  not  tell  them.  "But  they  like 
sad  stories.  They  ask  for  them,"  said  a  librarian  who 
thought  she  knew  how  to  plan  a  story-program  much  better 
than  the  story-teller.  "Perhaps,"  acknowledges  Mr.  Schutze, 
"but  who  are  'they'?  We  will  venture  to  assert  that  they 
are  the  future  sentimentalists  who  cannot  safeguard  their 
own  lives ;  the  future  neurasthenics  whose  nerves  and  moods 
will  be  masters  of  their  sickly  bodies.  It  is  more  than  likely 
that  these  children  are  the  ones  who  most  need  satiric  hu- 
mor and  rough  strength,  or  perhaps  the  brutal  justice  of 
the  folk-tale  as  rendered  by  Grimm."  Of  course  we 
wouldn't  go  so  far  as  to  maintain  the  literalness  of  our 
statement  that  sad  stories  should  never  be  told.  They  ought 
certainly  never  to  be  the  last  story  told  in  the  day.  If  they 
be  stories  of  injured  or  heroic  or  prudent  virtue,  they  have 
their  place,  definite  but  small,  in  the  variety  of  feeling- 
influence  which  we  are  at  liberty  to  bring  to  bear  upon  a 
child's  mind  and  heart.  As  Donald  G.  Mitchell  said,  "Little 
Red  Riding  Hood  may  be  eaten  up  by  the  wolf  who  has 
put  on  her  grandmother's  cap;  but  the  little  Red  Riding 
Hoods  who  are  left  will  look  all  the  sharper  on  those  who 
are  full  of  professions,  and  not  judge  people  by  their  caps, 
and  not  believe  the  lying  words  of  the  strangers  they  meet 
upon  the  high-roads." 

The  writer  is  fortunate  to  present,  in  Appendix  I,  lists, 
specially  furnished  him  by  some  of  the  best  story-tellers  in 
America,  not  of  stories  that  children  ought  to  like  but  of 
those  which,  in  their  actual  experience,  children  really  do 
most  like. 


IV 
HOW   TO    TELL    STORIES    TO    CHILDREN 

"Folks  say  a  Wizard  to  a  Western  King 
At  Christmas-time  such  wondrous  things  did  show, 
That  through  one  window  he  beheld  the  spring; 
And  through  another  saw  the  summer  glow; 
And  through  a  third  the  fruited  vines  arow ; 
While  all  the  while,  and  in  its  wonted  way, 
Piped  the  drear  wind  of  that  December  day." 

— William  Morris. 

What  is  the  plan  for  a  good  story?  A  narrative  which 
has  a  definite  beginning,  continuous  action  and  a  definite 
ending.  If  it  begins  with  a  rambling  description,  it  does  not 
hold  the  interest  and  is  not  a  good  story.  Unless  some- 
thing happens  soon  and  frequently,  the  child  does  not  think 
it  is  a  story  at  all.  If  it  ends  in  a  vague,  indefinite  way  so 
that  we  do  not  really  know  what  happened  to  the  hero, 
even  though  that  be  like  real  life,  it  does  not  suit  the  child. 
The  child's  invariable  desire  for  a  happy  ending  is  a  simple 
outgrowth  of  his  feeling  for  justice.  "If  the  bad  person 
is  not  punished  and  the  good  person  not  rewarded,  the 
child  feels  that  it  is  all  wrong." 

The  classics  that  appeal  to  children  teach  us  how  to 
tell  them  stories.  Form  and  style  to  them  are  but  little. 
Long  comments  and  descriptions  are  annoying  interruptions. 
First  is  personality.  You  must  name  and  describe  your 
hero.  He  is  the  child  himself  personalized.  Then  comes 
action.  There  must  be  a  journey,  a  combat,  a  plot.  Next 
is  mystery,  suspense,  surprise.  Finally  the  solution.  With 
these  simple  elements  anybody  ought  to  tell  a  tale.  They 
are  the  elements  of  the  classics. 

28 


How  TO  TELL  STORIES  TO  CHILDREN  29 


THE  PLOT  OF  THE  STORY 

There  are  really  only  four  plots  in  any  good  story. 
These  have  been  named  by  Angela  M.  Keyes  as  follows : 

First,  "a  single  line  of  sequence."  This  is  illustrated 
in  such  a  story  as  "The  Sleeping  Beauty,"  in  which  the 
action  moves  steadily  along  a  single  line  from  one  exciting 
event  to  the  next.  Second,  "the  three-parallel  line."  In 
such  stories,  we  are  shown  what  the  first  did,  what  the  sec- 
ond did  and  what  the  third  did,  and  the  climax  is  usually 
in  the  third,  and  often  the  stupid  third  member  of  the 
family  turns  out  to  be  the  cleverest  and  most  favored  of 
fortune.  Third,  "two  contrasting  courses  of  action  placed 
side  by  side."  In  such  a  story,  we  learn,  first,  what  the 
beautiful  person  did  and  then  what  the  ugly  person  did; 
what  the  industrious  child  did  and  what  the  idle  one  did, 
as  in  "Diamonds  and  Toads,"  "Cinderella,"  etc.  Fourth, 
"the  cumulative  plan,"  illustrated  in  "The  House  that  Jack 
Built,"  in  which  there  are  repetitions  and  added  incidents 
and  plots,  and  to  each  subject  there  is  a  new  interest. 

These  distinctions  are  particularly  interesting  in  pre- 
paring to  tell  moral  stories.  In  the  first  kind  the  story- 
teller moves  straight  toward  the  goal  of  his  application  by 
relating  what  was  done  by  one  person,  the  hero;  in  the 
third  kind  he  contrasts  the  deeds  of  his  hero  with  those  of 
his  villain.  The  second  and  fourth  kinds  are  more  elaborate 
and  artificial  and  are  usually  not  for  the  amateur.  In  each 
of  these  the  goal  is  won  through  the  pathway  of  suspended 
interest.  So  to  most  of  us  either  the  line  of  sequence  or 
the  method  of  contrast  will  be  our  choice  in  arranging  our 
plot. 

A   GOOD    BEGINNING 

All  authorities  are  agreed  that  the  first  essential  in 
story-telling  is  to  begin  interestingly.  The  story  must,  as 


30  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Miss  Bailey  says,  have  in  it  all  the  qualities  that  charac- 
terize a  successful  drama.  "It  must  catch  the  attention  of 
the  audience  the  moment  the  curtain  rises."  Even  in  school, 
the  social  relationships  of  story-teller  and  listeners  are  such 
that  attention  must  be  earned,  not  demanded.  When  we 
are  telling  stories  we  must,  like  actors,  court  favor,  for 
we  have  to  do  with 

"A  court  as  of  angels, 
A  public  not  to  be  bribed, 
Not  to  be  entreated, 
Not  to  be  overawed." 

"In  order  to  do  this  there  must  be  no  explanation,  no 
descriptive  scene,  no  painful  dragging  in  of  the  plot.  The 
child  does  not  care  a  rap  for  the  creating  of  atmosphere. 
He  does  not  care  how  long  ago  the  story  events  happened 
nor  why  they  happened.  What  he  is  eager  for  is  a  quick 
story  appeal  made  the  second  that  the  story  curtain  goes 
up."  Therefore,  she  tells  us,  the  story-teller  must  ask  her- 
self some  such  question  as  this.  "Does  the  story  interest  be- 
gin with  my  very  first  paragraph,  my  first  sentence,  my  first 
word?"  She  cites,  as  an  admirable  example  of  recognizing 
this  fact,  a  story-teller  in  a  social  settlement  who  had  to  deal 
with  some  street  boys  whose  usual  method,  upon  entering 
the  room,  was  to  throw  down  chairs  and  overturn  tables 
and  produce  a  scene  of  bedlam.  The  story-teller  made 
no  effort  to  control  the  boys.  She  simply  stood  in  the  cen- 
ter of  the  room,  and  when  there  was  an  instant's  lull  as 
they  took  breath  for  some  more  noise,  she  said,  in  a  low, 
even  tone  of  voice :  "There  was  once  a  little  Indian  boy 
who  rode  fifty  miles  on  the  cow-catcher  of  an  engine."  This 
is  what  Miss  Bailey  calls  catching  the  involuntary  attention 
by  appealing  to  a  natural  instinct.  It  would  have  been  im- 
possible to  secure  the  voluntary  attention  of  those  boys. 
She  began  just  right,  not  with  a  man,  not  with  a  chieftain, 
but  with  a  boy  like  themselves  who  had  to  do  with  some- 


How  TO  TELL  STORIES  TO  CHILDREN  31 

thing  that  could  go,  who  did  a  deed  that  they  in  their  wildest 
dreams  had  never  considered — he  rode  an  engine. 

The  other  day  the  writer  turned  to  a  new  story-book, 
which  opened  as  follows : 

"Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  boy.  There,  doesn't 
that  begin  like  a  fairy  story?" 

Politely  but  emphatically,  it  does  not.  If  you  want  to 
know  what  a  fairy  story  begins  like,  turn  to  Edmund 
Leamy's  "The  Fairy  Minstrel  of  Glenmalure"  and  this  is 
what  you  shall  read: 

"Kathleen  and  Emun  were  under  the  beech  tree  that 
stood  in  the  hollow  down  near  the  stream.  Kathleen  was 
sitting  against  the  tree  trunk,  stitching  the  sleeve  of  her 
dolly's  dress.  Emun  was  lying  on  his  back,  his  hands  under 
his  head,  his  cap  down  on  his  forehead,  and  his  eyes  closed. 

"  'Emun,  do  you  believe/  asked  Kathleen,  'that  there 
are  any  real  live  fairies  now?' 

"  'I  don't  know,'  said  Emun,  scarcely  moving  his  lips. 

"Just  then  a  beech  nut  fell  and  hit  him  on  the  nose. 
He  opened  his  eyes,  started  up,  looked  above  him,  and 
saw,  sitting  on  the  fork  of  the  tree,  a  little  man,  about 
twice  the  size  of  your  finger,  with  a  little  three-cornered 
black  hat  with  a  red  plume  on  it,  and  a  little  black  coat  and 
a  red  waistcoat,  and  little  yellow  knee-breeches,  and  white 
stockings,  and  little  black  shoes  with  gold  buckles." 

It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  point  out  the  difference. 
Leamy  has  something  to  say  at  once,  he  brings  us  immedi- 
ately close  to  his  characters,  the  scene  is  full  of  charm  and 
color,  and  we  see  at  once  that  a  lovely  dream  is  just  about 
to  come  true. 


ACTION    AND    SENSE   APPEAL 

Now  as  to  action.  Miss  Vostrovsky's  suggestive  study 
shows  that  in  young  children  the  interest  in  what  was  done 
leads  all  others,  and  that  they  put  several  times  as  much 


32  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

emphasis  upon  action  as  upon  moral  qualities,  sentiment, 
feeling,  esthetic  details  and  dress  combined,  while  the 
thought  of  the  actors  received  no  mention  at  all.  It  is  well 
known  that  adolescent  boys  demand  "something  doing"  in 
their  books,  and  in  adults  interest  in  action  has  hardly  de- 
creased. 

"For  these  reasons,"  says  Edna  Lyman,  "let  me  urge 
you,  when  you  are  looking  for  stories  to  tell  little  children, 
to  apply  this  threefold  test  as  a  kind  of  touchstone  to  their 
quality  of  fitness :  Are  they  full  of  action,  in  close  natural 
sequence?  Are  their  images  simple  without  being  hum- 
drum? Are  they  repetitive?  This  last  quality  is  not  an 
absolute  requisite,  but  it  is  at  least  very  often  an  attribute 
of  a  good  child-story." 

The  analogy  of  the  story  to  the  drama  has  been  spoken 
of.  It  is  often  helpful  to  the  story-teller  to  conceive  of 
his  story  as  having  scenes  like  a  play.  By  doing  this,  he 
sees  his  story  more  clearly,  builds  it  up  more  logically  and 
brings  it  to  a  climax  more  effectively. 

When  he  has  chosen  his  dramatic  story,  let  him  not 
decide  that  any  arrangement  is  "good  enough."  Always 
preserving  the  author's  text,  he  must  consider  not  only 
rhythm,  but  the  dramatic  element,  as  he  cuts  the  work  to 
fit  his  time.  A  comparison  of  two  versions  of  a  paragraph 
from  the  "Thousand  and  One  Nights"  will  illustrate  the 
difference  that  can  be  sensed  by  the  ear,  as  well  as  under- 
stood by  the  mind,  and  will  serve  to  show  how  the  improper 
cutting  of  a  description  may  reduce  the  story  to  the  com- 
monplace. 

"We  heard  the  sound  of  drums  and  trumpets,  warriors 
galloped  about,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  dust  raised  by 
the  horses'  hoofs." 

Sir  Richard  F.  Burton  renders  as  follows :  "We  heard 
the  tom-toming  of  the  kettle-drum,  and  the  tantara  of  the 
trumpets,  and  the  clash  of  cymbals,  and  the  rattling  of  war- 
men's  lances ;  and  the  clamours  of  assailants  and  the  clank- 
ing of  bits  and  the  neighing  of  steeds ;  while  the  world  was 


How  TO  TELL  STORIES  TO  CHILDREN  33 

canopied  with  dense  dust  and  sand-clouds  raised  by  the 
horses'  hoofs.'* 

The  second,  with  its  breathless  hurrying  to  a  pictorial 
climax,  gives  us  the  sight  and  sound  of  battle ;  the  first  is 
colorless,  and  paints  no  picture  for  the  inward  eye. 

This  appeal  to  "the  inward  eye"  by  descriptions  that 
touch  the  senses  is  often  the  unrecognized  but  potent  magic 
that  gives  a  story  its  charm.  We  spoke  in  an  earlier  chap- 
ter of  the  interest  of  stories  that  have  a  sense  appeal  to 
little  children.  But  we  who  are  older  are  by  no  means 
insensible  to  this  charm.  We  turn  to  the  opening  page  of 
Stevenson's  most  careful  story,  "Prince  Otto,"  and  lo! 
how  the  skilful  and  crafty  craftsman  captures  us  at  once 
with  his  subtle  suggestion  of  sound  and  color  and  smell 
and  even  of  taste. 

"The  hum  of  watermills,  the  splash  of  running  water, 
the  clean  odour  of  pine  sawdust,  the  sound  and  smell  of 
the  pleasant  wind  among  the  innumerable  army  of  the 
mountain  pines,  the  dropping  fire  of  huntsmen,  the  dull 
stroke  of  the  wood-axe,  intolerable  roads,  fresh  trout  for 
supper  in  the  clean  bare  chamber  of  an  inn,  and  the  song 
of  birds  and  the  music  of  the  village-bells — these  were  the 
recollections  of  the  Griinewald  tourist." 

Perhaps  the  most  lovely  single  page  written  in  bur  gen- 
eration occurs  in  Edward  Thomas'  "Life  of  Richard  Jef- 
feries."  It  is  a  description  of  a  hunt  at  evening.  Note  how 
the  appeal  is  almost  entirely  that  of  the  sense  of  sound, 
which  the  writer  communicates  in  words  of  haunting  melody 
in  which  the  cadence  of  the  horns  accords  with  the  music 
of  the  heart. 

"  'Yander  they  goo,  up  to  Barbriam  Caastle !'  says  the 
ploughman,  checking  his  homeward  jungling  team.  But 
the  March  afternoon  is  at  an  end,  and  it  is  too  late  to  follow 
farther  over  the  hill.  The  wind  has  fallen,  and  the  black- 
bird sings  at  ease;  the  far  away  missel-thrush  is  almost  as 
mild  and  sweet.  A  hare  has  stolen  out,  and  in  the  still 
moist  air  before  frost  the  violet  scent  is  expanding.  Then, 


34  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

suddenly,  the  huntsman's  horn  crackles  upon  the  hill,  splin- 
tering  and  tearing  the  solitude;  a  full,  rich  note  follows, 
and  goes  to  the  heart  of  silence  and  into  our  hearts,  too. 
Again  and  again  a  shrewd  victorious  note  that  seems  the 
very  essence  of  the  red  jackets  that  sprinkle  the  saddening 
slopes  of  Barbury  Hill.  It  is  almost  night — a  most  almighty 
quiet  night,  folding  all  those  hills  as  sheep  into  a  pen; 
yet  the  horn  threatens  it ;  invades  it,  overthrows  it,  shooting 
to  and  fro  in  its  sombre  texture  threads  of  crimson  and 
gold.  And  the  heart  leaps  up  and  is  glad  at  this  insult 
to  the  night,  at  the  stinging  music,  at  the  large  scene,  and 
the  horses  and  horsemen  gigantic  against  the  sky.  To  that 
horn  blown  at  the  edge  of  night  and  the  edge  of  the  world 
come  all  the  hunters  of  the  earth,  as  if  out  of  the  ground 
or  the  sea  of  time  that  washes  the  base  of  the  Down ;  and 
they  are  more  than  those  dark  hunters  of  the  ridge,  and 
stand  among  them,  weaving  strangeness  and  solemnity 
about  them.  The  heart  is  a  hunter  still,  and  it  has  found 
a  long-desired  quarry,  and  is  bringing  it  home  with  melody 
over  the  early  world,  as  grim  and  illimitable  as  the  level 
cloud-land  in  the  west.  But  the  ploughman  and  his  team 
go  on ;  the  horn  has  died  away,  and  the  hounds  pass  silently, 
like  dreams  when  night  is  over  and  day  is  not  begun." 

It  is  not  claimed  of  course  that  children  would  listen 
to  just  this;  these  pictures  are  too  painstakingly  wrought, 
though  there  are  some  children  who  would  be  soothed  by 
their  very  music.  But  much  may  be  done  in  this  direction. 
Hans  Andersen  knew  this,  and  his  stories  are  full  of  color 
and  music  and  soft  sounds.  Do  you  remember  how  his 
"Wind's  Tale"  begins?  "When  the  wind  sweeps  across  a 
field  of  grass  it  makes  little  ripples  in  it  like  a  lake;  in  a 
field  of  corn  it  makes  great  waves  like  the  sea  itself ;  this 
is  the  wind's  frolic.  Do  you  see  how  the  wind  chases  the 
white  fleecy  clouds  as  if  they  were  a  flock  of  sheep?  Do 
you  hear  the  wind  down  there,  howling  in  the  doorway 
like  a  watchman  winding  his  horn  ?  Then,  too,  he  whistles 
in  the  chimneys,  making  the  fire  crackle  and  sparkle.  How 


How  TO  TELL  STORIES  TO  CHILDREN  35 

cozy  it  is  to  sit  in  the  warm  glow  of  the  fire  listening  to  the 
tales  it  has  to  tell !  Let  the  wind  tell  its  own  story.  Listen 
now."  See  how  the  buttercup's  story  in  "The  Snow  Queen" 
fairly  glows  in  buttercup  color.  "God's  bright  sun  shone 
into  a  little  court  on  the  first  day  of  spring.  The  sunbeams 
stole  down  the  neighboring  white  wall,  close  to  which 
bloomed  the  first  yellow  flower  of  the  season;  it  shone  like 
burnished  gold  in  the  sun.  An  old  woman  had  brought  her 
armchair  out  into  the  sun;  her  granddaughter,  a  poor  and 
pretty  little  maid-servant,  had  come  to  pay  her  a  short  visit, 
and  she  kissed  her.  There  was  gold,  heart's  gold,  in  the 
kiss.  Gold  on  the  lips,  gold  on  the  ground,  and  gold  above 
in  the  early  morning  beams!" 

THE    CLIMAX 

"The  Climax,"  says  Miss  Bryant,  "is  that  which  makes 
the  story ;  for  it  all  that  precedes  has  prepared  the  way. 
It  is  the  point  on  which  interest  focuses.  If  a  moral  lesson 
is  conveyed,  it  is  here  that  it  is  enforced.  Hence  failure 
here  means  total  failure.  The  reason  why  the  'good  story' 
sometimes  seems  so  dull  when  it  is  related  by  an  apprecia- 
tive hearer  is  that  he  has  missed  the  point  in  re-telling  it. 
It  is  for  this  that  the  story  exists,  and  skill  in  dealing  with 
it  counts  more  for  success  than  at  any  other  point." 

Just  as  important  as  a  good  beginning  is  a  good  ending. 
The  most  difficult  place  for  some  story-tellers  to  find  seems 
to  be  a  good  place  to  stop.  As  Miss  Cowles  says :  "Story- 
tellers sometimes  remind  one  of  a  man  holding  the  handles , 
of  an  electric  battery.  The  current  is  so  strong  that  he  can- 
not let  go.  The  story-teller  must  know  when  and  how 
to  'let  go.' "  You  need  not  apologize  for  your  ending  and 
you  need  not  explain  it.  You  need  not  tack  on  a  moral — 
just  "let  go"  and  "you  will  leave  all  the  tingle  and  exhilara- 
tion of  the  magnetic  current  still  in  the  face  of  your  lis- 
tener." 

"When  yer  git  through  pumpin'  lave  go  th'  ha-andle." 


36  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


METHOD 

Now  as  to  the  method  of  telling  a  story.  "How  to 
tell  a  story?"  says  Mr.  Wyche.  "Tell  it  naturally,  simply, 
directly.  The  audience,  the  place,  the  occasion  and  the 
story  itself  must  in  a  large  measure  determine  the  way  in 
which  a  story  is  told.  However,  there  are  some  funda- 
mental psychological  principles  underlying  all  creative  proc- 
esses, whether  it  be  telling  a  story  or  building  a  house.  In 
telling  a  story  one  must  be  able  to  see  clearly  the  mental 
pictures  in  the  story  and  be  able  to  create  the  picture  anew 
each  time  the  story  is  told  in  words  that  are  current  with 
his  audience.  If  the  story-teller  sees  clearly  the  picture,  he 
can  make  others  see  it.  But  the  story  has  something  more 
than  imagery.  It  has  emotion  and  one  must  feel  deeply 
the  truth  in  the  story.  Feeling  more  than  anything  else 
will  give  one  a  motive  for  telling  the  truth.  Frequently  a 
story  is  told  more  than  anything  else  to  impart  feeling." 

So  important  is  directness  as  a  method  that  the  follow- 
ing sentence  from  Miss  Sara  Cone  Bryant  seems  to  the 
writer  to  be  the  most  valuable  one  ever  written  upon  the 
subject : 

"I  like  to  think  of  the  story-teller  as  a  good  fellow 
standing  at  a  great  window  overlooking  a  busy  street  or 
a  picturesque  square,  and  reporting  with  gusto  to  the  com- 
rade in  the  rear  of  the  room  what  of  mirth  or  sadness  he 
sees;  he  hints  at  the  policeman's  strut,  the  organ-grinder's 
shrug,  the  schoolgirl's  gayety,  with  a  gesture  or  two  which 
is  born  of  an  irresistible  impulse  to  imitate ;  but  he  never 
leaves  his  fascinating  post  to  carry  the  imitation  farther 
than  a  hint." 

Someone  speaks  of  "the  artist  telling  the  truth  as  if 
he  were  listening  to  it."  That  is  what  the  story-telling  artist 
must  endeavor  to  do. 

This  power  of  -visualising  is  frequently  emphasized  by 
Mr.  Wyche :  "We  must  be  able  to  visualize,  to  see  clearly 


How  TO  TELL  STORIES  TO  CHILDREN  37 

the  images,  the  mental  pictures  in  the  story.     If  we  are  to 
tell  the  story  of  Ulysses  we  must  see  him." 

Again  he  urges:  "To  the  extent  that  the  story-teller 
can  imagine  these  scenes,  creating  them  anew  as  he  tells 
the  story,  to  that  extent  can  he  make  his  audience  see  them. 
He  may  rest  assured  if  he  does  not  see  clearly  the  mental 
pictures,  his  audience  will  not.  If  the  picture  is  hazy  and 
dim  his  words  will  be  doubtful,  inaccurate,  and  inartistic, 
but  if  he  have  a  vivid  mental  picture  his  words  will  be 
graphic,  and  his  use  of  them  will  give  just  the  right  shade 
and  color,  making  the  outward  ring  true  to  the  inward. 
Therein  is  the  difference  in  reciting  a  story  and  telling  a 
story." 

So  important  is  this  point  that  we  will  quote  one  more 
authority,  Partridge :  "The  story-teller  must  take  his  hear- 
ers enthusiastically  to  the  scenes  of  the  story  and  allow 
them  to  see  for  themselves  and  to  share  the  vision  with 
him." 

Story-telling  is  thus,  incidentally,  most  educative  to  \ 
the  story-teller.  The  story-teller  is  like  the  guide  who  at-  / 
tempts  to  show  Europe.  He  finds  that  he  must  not  depend 
upon  his  haze  of  memories ;  he  must  be  able  to  state  clearly, 
definitely  and  accurately  the  exact  facts.  It  makes  him  a 
wiser  man  to  be  able  to  do  it.  So  the  story-teller  discovers 
that  perhaps  he  does  not  know  the  classics  as  well  as  he 
thought,  that  he  has  in  fact  forgotten  the  very  point  of 
a  certain  famous  story,  that  he  must  keep  up  with  his 
reading  if  he  would  keep  in  advance  of  his  child.  Story- 
telling has  made  many  an  adult  ashamed  of  his  reading, 
as  he  has  noticed  that  his  mental  habits  are  to  dwell  in 
realms  which  would  not  be  respectable  company  to  a  good 
story. 

In  Hervey's  "Picture  Work,"  he  gives  the  story-teller 
six  sensible  suggestions  as  to  the  story  itself: 
See  it. 
Feel  it. 
Shorten  it. 


38  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Expand  it. 

Master  it. 

Repeat  it. 

These  terse  phrases  need,  perhaps,  little  elaboration. 
There  is  no  inconsistency  between  the  advice  to  "shorten  it" 
and  "expand  it."  Where  to  shorten  is  when  to  omit  irrele- 
vant details,  where  to  expand  is  where  details  will  touch 
the  fancy  and  appeal  to  the  imagination. 


THE    RESULTS    ARE    IN    THE   FUTURE 

The  story-teller  can  never  know  her  full  success.  When 
she  is  telling  a  tale  to  a  child  she  cannot  see 

"Each  little  drop  of  wisdom  as  it  falls 
Into  the  dimpling  cistern  of  his  heart," 

but  she  can  perceive  that  the  child  is  daily  growing  more 
imaginative,  more  thoughtful,  and  the  citizen  of  a  wider 
world  than  before. 

"Lads   go   singing  on   their   way 
To   Cambulo   and    far   Cathay, 
Weaving    dreams   of   high   emprise 
Where  cities  strange  shall  meet  their  eyes. 
'Go  singing,  merry  masters.' " 

"Gray-head  Magi  in  amaze 
Will  list  and  marvel  at  the  strays. 
Emperor  and  mandarin 
All  vie  their  gratitude  to  win. 
'Go  singing,  merry  masters.' " 


V 

STORY-TELLING   DEVICES 

"O,  grown-ups  cannot  understand 

And  grown-ups  never  will, 
How  short's  the  way  to  fairy-land 

Across   the   purple   hill; 
They  smile ;  their  smile  is  very  bland, 

Their  eyes  are  wide  and  chill; 
And  yet — at  just  a  child's  demand — 
The  world's  an  Eden  still." 

—Alfred  Noyes. 

Following  are  some  miscellaneous  but  useful  "tricks  of 
the  trade,"  each  of  which  is  given  without  much  comment. 


GETTING    ATTENTION 

If  there  is  inattention  it  may  be  due  to  one  of  several 
causes.  Perhaps  some  cannot  hear.  The  informality  of 
story-telling  is  such  that  the  teller  may  move  from  the 
platform  at  the  end  to  the  center  of  the  room,  where  if  he 
will  turn  from  side  to  side  at  times  he  will  be  nearer  his 
audience  and  hold  them  better.  A  story-telling  audience 
loves  to  sit  on  the  edge  of  platforms,  to  double  up  in  chairs, 
to  nestle  about  the  teacher — anything  that  is  unconventional 
and  homelike.  Sometimes  the  temperature  of  the  room 
rises  or  the  air  becomes  foul  after  the  story-teller  is  part 
through  his  narrative.  Children  when  near  asphyxiation 
will  keep  attention  to  a  good  story  better  than  to  anything 
else — but  there  are  limits.  Some  children  grow  inattentive 

39 


40  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

if  they  do  not  see  the  story-teller's  face.  Miss  Cowles 
speaks  of  telling  stories  once  when  all  the  children  but  one 
were  grouped  at  one  side  of  the  room  with  the  adults  on 
the  other.  The  exception  was  a  child  of  three  who  sat  on 
his  grandfather's  lap  on  the  "grown-up"  side.  The  story- 
teller devoted  her  attention  entirely  to  the  children's  side 
of  the  room.  The  moment  the  story  was  finished,  a  small 
voice  from  the  neglected  side  of  the  room  demanded,  "Now 
tell  it  to  me!"  Each  child  wants  to  feel  that  the  story  is 
told  to  him,  and  this  he  does  not  feel  if  the  story-teller  turns 
away  her  face.  By  singling  out  the  inattentive  child  and 
addressing  him  directly,  even  asking  him  a  question  after 
his  attention  is  caught  and  he  has  the  thread  of  the  story, 
is  an  effective  device. 

The  worst  possible  defect  of  a  story-teller  is  to  get 
entangled  in  his  story.  It  is  this  that  makes  the  ignorant 
gossip  so  tiresome.  He  makes  so  many  diversions  and  in- 
troduces so  many  irrelevant  details  that  the  listener  is 
tired  out  trying  to  keep  track  of  him.  The  trouble  may 
be  that  the  story-teller  is  really  trying  to  tell  two  stories 
instead  of  one,  and  he  can't  get  them  unbraided.  It  may 
be  that  he  hasn't  a  clear  goal,  that  he  thinks  several  bits 
of  narrative  strung  together  make  a  story,  in  fact  that  he 
hasn't  a  story  to  tell  after  all.  It  may  be  that  he  stops  to 
toss  a  stone  of  attention  at  every  object  beside  the  road 
instead  of  plodding  along  through  his  story.  At  no  time 
is  such  dallying  more  inexcusable  than  when  one  is  ap- 
proaching an  exciting  place.  It  is  a  kind  of  going  to  sleep 
at  the  switch  which  ought  to  have  the  extremest  penalties 
that  are  ever  visited  upon  literary  track-walkers. 


DIRECT    DISCOURSE 

St.  John  says:  "One  of  the  most  important  of  these 
literary  devices  is  the  use  of  direct  rather  than  indirect  dis- 
course. Through  its  use  a  certain  vivacity  of  style  is  gained, 


STORY-TELLING  DEVICES  41 

and  it  adds  movement  and  lifelikeness  to  the  tale.  There 
is  no  easier  way  to  give  the  semblance  of  reality  to  an  im- 
aginary tale  than  by  letting  the  characters  speak  for  them- 
selves. The  personality  of  the  narrator  is  less  intrusive,  and 
the  effect  upon  the  hearer  is  that  of  looking  on  at  a  scene 
in  real  life." 

DETAILS 

Miss  Bryant  says:  "Explanations  and  moralizing  are 
mostly  sheer  clutter.  Some  few  stories  necessarily  include 
a  little  explanation,  and  stories  of  the  fable  order  may 
quaintly  end  with  an  obvious  moral.  But  here  again,  the 
rule  is — great  discretion." 

In  warning  the  story-teller  not  to  introduce  too  many 
irrelevant  details,  we  must  not  go  to  the  extreme  of  having 
no  details  at  all.  Such  items  as  to  name,  costume  or  char- 
acter which  attract  attention  or  satisfy  the  sense  of  humor 
are  always  liked  and  upon  repetition  are  always  demanded. 
One  woman  declared  that  when  she  was  a  little  girl  the 
story  of  the  ugly  duckling  never  seemed  to  her  quite  right 
if  the  old  Spanish  duck  with  the  rag  around  its  leg  was 
left  out. 

REPETITION 

The  most  important  device,  no  doubt,  is  repetition. 
Says  Miss  Bryant:  "The  charm  of  repetition,  to  children, 
is  a  complex  matter;  there  are  undoubtedly  a  good  many 
elements  entering  into  it,  hard  to  trace  in  analysis.  But 
one  or  two  of  the  more  obvious  may  be  seized  and  brought 
to  view.  The  first  is  the  subtle  flattery  of  an  unexpected 
sense  of  mastery.  When  the  child-mind,  following  with 
toilful  alertness  a  new  train  of  thought,  comes  suddenly 
on  a  familiar  epithet  or  expression,  I  fancy  it  is  with  much 
the  same  sense  of  satisfaction  that  we  older  people  feel 
when  in  the  midst  of  a  long  program  of  new  music  the 


42  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

orchestra  strikes  into  something  we  have  heard  before." 
And  Mr.  St.  John  adds :  "A  very  helpful  device  is  the 
rhythmic  repetition  of  certain  significant  words  or  phrases 
from  time  to  time  through  the  progress  of  the  tale.  In  the 
fairy  and  folk-tales,  this  frequently  appears,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  'hoppity-kick,  hoppity-kick,'  of  the  little  half  chick, 
the  'trip-trop,  trip-trop'  of  the  three  goats  crossing  the 
bridge,  and  the  various  remarks  of  the  big  bear,  the  middle- 
sized  bear,  and  the  little  wee  bear.  In  such  cases,  the  story 
gains  an  added  quaintness  of  form  which  has  value  in  itself. 
The  little  child,  puzzled  by  much  that  is  unfamiliar,  remem- 
bers the  rhythmic  phrase  and  welcomes  it  as  we  greet  an 
old  friend  in  a  strange  city." 

Of  course  the  most  valuable  kind  of  repetition  of  a 
story  is  by  the  children  themselves.  Using  the  repetitious 
phrases  as  crutches  to  memory,  they  will  be  heard  telling 
the  stories  over  to  their  dolls  or  to  their  young  playmates, 
who  attend  "with  little  listening  hearts."  Miss  Meta  Eloise 
Beall,  who  has  had  successful  experience  with  story-telling 
hours  for  children,  tells  us  how  her  method  soon  makes 
the  children  not  only  unconscious  of  themselves,  but  eager 
both  to  assist  in  the  story-telling  and  to  repeat  and  even  go 
on  with  stories  of  their  own:  "I  ask  my  grown-ups  to  be 
'little  folks  just  for  the  time  being/  and  it  never  fails  to 
please.  Then  comes  a  story  for  the  'wee  folks.'  Whenever 
this  happens  to  be  a  'repetition'  story,  before  I'm  half 
through  the  children  join  in  the  part  that  repeats — perfectly 
unconscious  of  the  fact  that  there  are  many  grown-ups 
near.  In  the  Story  Hour  given  here  some  of  the  children 
were  so  eager  to  tell  themselves  a  story  that  I  let  them  'take 
the  floor,'  and  they  delighted  everybody." 

The  child's  desire,  through  repetition,  to  be  sure  he 
masters  his  favorite  story  leads  him  to  read  it.  "Not  long 
ago  I  came  upon  a  child  with  his  head  buried  in  the  pages 
of  a  story  which  I  had  told  him  many  times,  and  upon 
asking  him  why  he  was  reading  that  story,  he  replied :  Tm 
reading  the  things  I  did  not  understand  when  you  told  it/ 


STORY-TELLING  DEVICES  43 

The  little  one  had  understood  the  tale  from  the  first,  but  in 
the  intervening  months  his  understanding  had  broadened  to 
a  fuller  meaning  of  many  of  the  expressions." 

RETOUCHING 

It  is  the  privilege  of  the  story-teller,  when  he  has  to 
do  with  a  difficult  subject  or  an  objectionable  incident,  to 
do  what  the  photographer  does — retouch.  In  the  story 
of  Jack  the  Giant-Killer,  for  example,  it  has  come  down  to 
us  through  tradition  that  Jack  is  lazy,  impudent  to  his  par- 
ents and  generally  worthless,  but  finds  a  fate  much  better 
than  he  deserves.  To  children,  however,  he  has  always 
appeared  as  one  of  their  favorite  heroes,  chiefly,  no  doubt, 
because  they  love  the  portrayal  of  great  achievements  by 
youths  of  their  own  age.  In  order  that  this  impression  may 
still  be  retained,  it  is  certainly  unnecessary  to  emphasize, 
or  even  to  mention,  the  unfortunate  traits  in  Jack's  charac- 
ter. It  detracts  nothing  from  the  story  that  he  should  be 
loving  to  his  parents,  that  he  should  have,  as  was  natural, 
shown  some  signs  of  manliness  before  his  supreme  test. 
Many  a  bad  story  may  be  redeemed  by  revision  and  right 
emphasis. 


ONE'S    SELF    AND    THE   STORY 

Says  Miss  Keyes: 

"The  story-teller  must  not  allow  any  intruding  mental 
state  or  circumstance,  any  intruding  'self/  to  come  between 
the  story  and  the  listener.  Such  a  self  may  be 

(1)  The   diffident   or   embarrassed   self   of   the   self- 
conscious  story-teller. 

(2)  The  vain  or  affected  self  of  the  insincere  story- 
teller. 

(3)  The    weakening    self    of    the    patronizing    story- 
teller. 


44  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

(4)  The  non-seeing  self  of  the  non-spontaneous  story- 
teller. 

(5)  The    non-sensible,    or    non-artistic,    self    of    the 
'sledge-hammer'  story-teller. 

(6)  The  non-communicating  self  of  the  'acting'  story- 
teller. 

(7)  The  misinformed  self  of  the  lifeless  story-teller." 
The  parallelism  between  the  art  of  the  actor  and  that 

of  the  story-teller  is  in  matter  rather  than  in  manner.  The 
actor  aj3£galgto  the  eye  chiefly  and  only  secondarily  to  the 
jmagination,  while  the  story-teller  ^appeals  chiefly  to  the 
imagmalion  and  only  secondarily  to  the  eye.  ChildrerT 
al^u¥uaTly^anrioyed  by  elocution  from  a  storyteller.  Says 
Miss  Cowles :  "One  might  suppose  that  the  personality  of 
the  story-teller  must  become  aggressive ;  that  it  is  his  work 
to  give  to  the  hearer  especially  his  interpretation  of  the 
story.  It  is  very  easy  to  go  wrong  here.  What  is  wanted 
is  the  story,  not  the  story  plus  one's  personal  reaction 
to  it.  If  the  hearer  becomes  conscious  of  the  teller's  effort 
to  impress  something  upon  his  mind,  the  attention  becomes 
divided  between  the  story  and  the  teller."  The  actor  shows 
himself  performing  the  story,  but  the  story-teller  takes  his 
hearers  enthusiastically  to  the  scene  and  allows  them  to  see 
for  themselves  the  events,  in  which  their  imaginations  make 
themselves  performers. 

This  does  not  mean  that  a  story-teller  may  use  no  ges- 
tures. Some  persons  cannot  talk  without  gesturing,  and 
natural  gestures,  that  are  not  distracting,  may  help  make 
the  story  vivid.  But,  if  we  may  express  it  so,  the  listener 
is  to  put  in  what  he  feels  rather  than  what  he  is;  whatever 
he  does  is  that  he  may  become  the  interpreter,  not  the  hero, 
of  the  story.  So  rhythm,  tone,  song  may,  if  they  fulfil  the 
purpose  just  named,  be  helps  in  story-telling.  Costumes 
are  used  by  some  story-tellers.  The  robe  of  an  Oriental 
story-teller,  the  costume  of  a  fairy  godmother,  a  scholar's 
gown,  have  some  value.  Seen  before  the  story-teller  be- 
gins, they  help  create  an  atmosphere,  and  when  it  is  ex- 


STORY-TELLING  DEVICES  45 

plained  that  they  are  the  garb  of  a  story-teller  of  a  cer- 
tain nation  or  time  they  define  that  atmosphere  and  help 
the  story-teller  to  sink  into  his  own  background.  But  an 
actor's  outfit  would  be  inappropriate  and  ineffective,  be- 
cause  a  story-teller  is  not  an  *rtvr 

Mannerisms  are  unfortunate  because  they  bring  to  the 
fore  the  personality  of  the  story-teller  and  are  a  distrac- 
tion. Twirling  a  handkerchief,  fiddling  with  rings  or  pencil 
or  arranging  the  dress  may  unconsciously  lower  the  level  of 
attention  and  annoy  the  children. 


LEISURE 

>» 

The  most  frequent  mannerism  and  one  that  is  oc- 
casioned both  by  personal  nervousness  and  by  the  contagion 
of  the  audience  is  that  of  hurrying.  Nearly  all  amateur 
story-tellers  speak  too  fast  anyhow,  not  allowing  for  the 
slow  apprehensions  of  the  children  and  forgetting  that  what 
is  familiar  to  themselves  is  entirely  fresh  to  their  hearers, 
and  there  is  always  the  temptation,  for  the  sake  of  creating 
an  air  of  animation,  or  to  carry  the  hearers  enthusiastically 
through  an  exciting  scene,  or  to  drown  out  a  child  with 
whooping  cough,  or  to  be  sure  not  to  overstay  the  hour,  to 
become  almost  breathless  with  speed  of  utterance.  The 
result  is  that  details  get  left  out,  points  are  not  clearly  made, 
the  children  get  irritated  and  the  story  is  not  well  told. 
A  minister  who  was  subject  to  this  temptation  used  to  write 
"Plenty  of  Time"  in  red  ink  at  the  top  of  every  page  of  his 
manuscript.  The  story-teller  having  no  manuscript  cannot 
do  this,  but  if  he  can  imagine  the  clock  saying  it  or  can  put 
a  burdock  in  his  pocket  to  remind  him  of  the  fact  whenever 
he  thrusts  his  hand  inside,  he  may  do  as  well.  By  slow  and 
distinct  utterance  the  tones  become  deeper  and  more  modu- 
lated, there  is  a  chance  here  for  a  sentence  of  fine  descrip- 
tion, there  to  enhance  the  humor  of  the  situation,  and  self- 
mastery  to  put  one's  best  and  not  one's  worst  into  the 


46  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

climax.  "A  story,"  says  Miss  Cowles,  "should  never  be 
hurriedly  told,  any  more  than  it  should  be  hurriedly  pre- 
pared/' 

St.  John  says :  "  'Take  your  time.'  This  suggestion 
needs  explaining,  perhaps.  It  does  not  mean  license  to 
dawdle.  Nothing  is  much  more  annoying  in  a  speaker  than 
too  great  deliberateness,  or  than  hesitation  of  speech.  But 
it  means  a  quiet  realization  of  the  fact  that  the  floor  is 
yours,  everybody  wants  to  hear  you,  there  is  time  enough 
for  every  point  and  shade  of  meaning,  and  no  one  will 
think  the  story  too  long.  This  mental  attitude  must  under- 
lie proper  control  of  speed.  Never  hurry.  A  businesslike 
leisure  is  the  true  attitude  of  the  story-teller." 


STORY-TELLING    WITH    CHALK 

Story-telling  by  chalk  talks  is  often  effective.  By  this 
is  meant  not  the  elaborate  drawings  in  colored  crayons 
made  by  professional  lyceum  artists  to  the  accompaniment 
of  frivolous  patter,  but  the  few  honest  lines  by  which  the 
amateur  outlines  his  plot.  It  is. really  only  a  more  graphic 
gesturing,  and  the  simpler  the  better.  If  only  the  artist 
will  tell  what  his  scrawls  are  meant  for,  the  child  will  take 
them  more  seriously  than  they  deserve.  The  least  artistic 
can  produce  effects  which  enhance  interest  and  encourage 
memory.  It  is  not  necessary  to  be  able  even  to  draw  a 
face.  A  long  perpendicular  line  will  do  for  a  man,  a  short 
one  for  a  child;  a  few  level  lines  suggest  scenery,  a  few 
waving  ones  the  sea,  and  so  on.  A  more  ambitious  effort 
at  details  would  be  grotesque,  but  lines,  as  simple  as  a  cave- 
man's drawing,  are  not  grotesque  but  suggestive  to  imagina- 
tion. In  some  medieval  frescoes  a  saint  is  pictured  at  sev- 
eral points  in  his  career  on  one  canvas.  Here  he  is  in 
peril,  there  he  is  healing  the  sick,  yonder  he  is  being  buried 
and  above  he  is  in  glory.  The  ancients  saw  no  incongruity 
in  thus  assembling  events  that  were  years  apart  and  that 


STORY-TELLING  DEVICES  47 

took  place  in  more  than  one  world.  So  it  is  well  in  telling  a 
story  with  crayon  which  involves  several  incidents  not  to 
erase  any  "drawing"  but  to  go  on  from  point  to  point  on  the 
board  marking  out  successive  incidents,  leaving  all  the 
sketches  as  an  aid  to  reflection  and  memory.  The  child 
finds  no  incongruity  in  this. 


SHALL   ONE    MEMORIZE? 

On  the  whole,  it  seems  best  not  to  memorize  a  story. 
It  is  better  to  assimilate  it.  Assimilation  allows  full  liberty 
in  the  telling,  while  memorizing  tends  to  cramp  and  hinder. 
Having  a  certain  story  for  your  personal  possession,  you 
can  then  begin  to  formulate  it.  Often  as  you  begin  to  tell 
it  aloud  you  find  yourself  feeling  for  and  discovering  a 
scene  which  conforms  to  the  proper  style  for  this  story. 
A  happy  phrase  here,  a  pleasant  turn  of  expression  there, 
some  interesting  details  at  another  point  will  build  a  body 
upon  the  skeleton  with  which  you  began. 


SPONTANEITY 

Perhaps  some  readers  feel  the  fear  which  is  some- 
times expressed  that  training  in  story-telling  is  a  dangerous 
thing  since  what  is  gained  in  technique  may  be  lost  in  spon- 
taneity. Edna  Lyman  says  of  those  who  have  this  fear 
that  they  fail  to  recognize  what  the  real  outcome  of  training 
is.  It  does,  as  she  acknowledges,  lead  out  of  unconscious 
self-expression  into  a  certain  self-consciousness,  but  when 
the  training  has  gone  a  step  further,  it  is  possible  to  lose 
self-consciousness  again  in  the  greatness  of  the  art.  Story- 
telling is  spoiled  not  by  too  much  training  but  because  the 
story-teller  needs  more  training. 

We  say  that  story-telling  is  an  art.  This  does  not  mean 
that  it  is  to  be  taken  so  seriously  that  the  story-teller  loses 


48  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

his  enjoyment  in  the  recital  or  the  child  in  hearing.  You 
ask  a  child  why  he  wants  stories  so  often  and  he  will  an- 
swer, "Because  I  like  to  hear  them."  The  only  purpose  of 
telling  a  story  to  a  child  is  to  give  pleasure.  Mr.  Schiitze, 
professional  story-teller,  says  that  when  he  is  telling  stories 
he  does  not  think  of  story-telling  as  a  method  of  instruction 
but  as  an  art,  and  that  he  tries  to  realize  that  he  can  make 
no  real  impression  with  a  story,  except  through  enjoyment. 
It  is  encouraging  to  know  that  it  is  possible  for  anyone  of 
ordinary  intelligence  so  to  master  the  simple  rules  of  story- 
telling that  to  tell  a  story  will  be  a  delight  both  to  the  speaker 
and  to  the  hearer. 


THE    CHILD'S    PART    IN    STORY-TELLING 

It  is  just  as  important  to  notice  what  the  child  does  as 
what  the  story-teller  does.  Angela  M.  Keyes  suggests  eleven 
possible  responses  which  a  given  child  may  make  to  a  story. 
They  are  these : 

"(1)  It  is  listening. 

(2)  It  is  remaining  silent. 

(3)  It  is  commenting. 

(4)  It  is  joining  in. 

(5)  It  is  re-telling. 

(6)  It  is  partially   re-telling. 

(7)  It  is  telling  other  stories. 

(8)  It  is  inventing  stories. 

(9)  It  is  expressing   sometimes   story   images   in 

other  media. 

(10)  It  is  sometimes  playing  the  stories. 

(11)  It  is  growing  by  the  power  and  grace  of  the 

story." 

If  a  child  is  simply  listening,  he  may  catch  as  he  listens 
a  wider  and  deeper  vision  of  the  story.  If  he  is  silent,  he 
may  be  simply  content,  which  is  result  enough,  but  he  may 


STORY-TELLING  DEVICES  49 

be  brooding  and  meditating,  in  which  case  it  requires  insight 
to  know  whether  to  leave  him  to  himself  or  to  try  to  en- 
lighten him  further  by  explaining.  If  he  is  commenting  by 
question  or  remark,  be  encouraged  to  know  that  his  mind 
is  active.  It  may  be  wholesome  for  that  reason  to  have 
the  children  argue  out,  during  the  telling  of  the  story,  the 
moral  issue  which  they  see  involved.  If  he  is  joining  in  by 
repeating  after  you  the  rhymes  or  melodies,  be  even  more 
encouraged.  If,  when  the  story  is  over,  he  is  willing  to 
re-tell  it,  be  happier  still.  If  he  re-tells  a  little  each  day  until 
by  and  by  he  has  mastered  it,  rejoice  that,  though  his  proc- 
ess of  absorption  is  slow,  it  is  sure.  If  he  is  telling  similar 
stories  or  is  expressing  a  story  by  dressing  up  or  by  enacting 
it  in  play,  so  long  as  the  action  is  spontaneous  you  should 
be  satisfied  in  realizing  that  he  is  practicing  an  art  as  beauti- 
ful and  telling  as  your  own.  If,  finally,  he  is  growing  by 
the  power  and  grace  of  the  story,  then  indeed  you  may 
have  reason  to  hope  that,  as  all  good  stories  tell  us  in  con- 
clusion, he  will  "live  happy  ever  after." 


VI 

CONTINUED   STORIES 

"'Next  time'— 
'It  is  next  time,'  the  happy  children  cry." 

— Lewis  Carroll. 

It  is  a  good  thing,  after  awhile,  to  settle  down  to  a 
continued  story.  Beginning  with  Colonial  times,  I  have 
portrayed  the  adventures  of  a  certain  Colonel  Lindsay,  who 
fought  in  the  Revolution,  and  then  went  over  the  Allegha- 
nies  to  the  Western  Reserve  and  met  a  series  of  unparalleled 
adventures  with  the  Indians  in  his  home. 

To-night,  for  example,  I  am  describing  an  attack  on 
Marietta,  that  took  place  while  our  mythical  hero  was 
away.  The  eyes  brighten  as  the  gathering  of  the  tribes  is 
described.  The  children  gather  closer  to  me  as  Colonel 
Lindsay's  capture  far  from  home  is  related.  The  brave 
defense  of  the  beleaguered  garrison,  under  the  lead  of  the 
Colonel's  young  son,  brings  cheers  of  approbation ,  which 
arouse  the  dog.  Then  there  is  the  Colonel's  skilful,  silent 
escape,  and  his  return  in  disguise  to  the  neighborhood  of  his 
home.  The  children  look  into  the  fire  as  the  great  battle 
day  comes  with  its  wild  charges,  the  rolling  up  of  the  farm 
wagons  loaded  with  burning  hay  against  the  stockade,  the 
break  at  the  gate,  and  the  almost  miraculous  appearance  of 
the  brave  hero  to  save  the  day.  We  started  with  Lindsay 
as  a  lad,  a  scout  under  Washington  in  New  Jersey  saw  him 
over  the  Alleghanies,  stayed  with  his  sons  during  the  days 
of  early  settlement,  and  at  last  accounts  we  were  dealing 
with  his  grandchildren  in  the  times  of  1812.  We  were  over 
a  year,  at  intervals,  telling  this  story. 

So 


CONTINUED  STORIES  51 


THE   CONTINUED    STORY   AS   A   DRAMA 

A  continued  story  that  is  told  should  have  a  construc- 
tion similar  to  one  which  the  child  reads  in  a  magazine. 
Each  chapter  should  present  a  well-rounded  incident  upon 
which  the  child's  memory  and  fancy  may  love  to  linger, 
but  it  must  close  with  the  suggestion  of  a  still  more  inter- 
esting incident  which  is  to  follow.  It  must,  to  a  degree,  be 
complete,  and,  to  a  greater  degree,  be  incomplete.  If  it  is 
too  complete,  there  will  not  be  much  interest  left  over  for 
next  time.  If  it  is  too  incomplete,  the  children  will  insist 
upon  hearing  the  rest  at  once.  Edna  Lyman  suggests  that 
the  story  of  Joan  of  Arc  may  be  successfully  given  in  a 
cycle  of  five  stories  as  follows: 

1.  The  girlhood  of  Joan,  the  call  of  the  "voices"  and 
the  visit  to  the  Dauphin. 

2.  The  attack  and  delivery  of  Orleans. 

3.  The  defeat  of  the  English  and  the  crowning  of  the 
Dauphin. 

4.  The  treachery  of  Paris  and  the  capture  of  Joan. 

5.  Joan's  trial  and  death. 

This  arrangement  resembles  very  much  that  of  a  five- 
act  play. 

Similarly,  she  shows  how  the  more  difficult  story  of 
the  Odyssey  may  be  given  in  a  cycle  of  eleven  stories. 

1.  The  adventures  of  Ulysses  with  the  Cyclops. 

2.  The  adventure  at  the  home  of  the  winds  and  the 
palace  of  Circe. 

3.  The  Sirens  and  the  monsters  Scylla  and  Charybdis. 

4.  What  happened  in  Ithaca  and  the  search  for  Ulysses. 

5.  An  island  prison  and  a  shipwreck. 

6.  Ulysses  finds  a  princess  washing  clothes. 

7.  Ulysses  at  the  court  of  Alcinous. 

8.  Ulysses'  welcome  at  Ithaca, 


52  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

9.  Ulysses  at  home. 

10.  The  trial  by  bow. 

11.  The  end  of  the  hero's  adventures. 

Still  better,  it  seems  to  us,  this  story  could  be  con- 
densed to  a  five-act  narrative.  To  do  this,  the  first  act  would 
consist  of  story  No.  1,  the  second  of  stories  2  and  3,  the 
third  of  stories  4  and  5,  the  fourth  of  stories  6  to  8  and 
the  fifth  of  stories  9  to  11.  The  minor  stories  would  be 
reduced  to  incidents  in  the  main  current  of  action.  Nearly 
all  continued  stories  lend  themselves  to  the  four-act  or  five- 
act  form. 

SERIAL   STORIES    CLASSIFIED   BY   AGES 

The  author  names  below  a  few  stories  which  seem  to 
be  good  to  tell  serially.  If  the  reader  is  surprised  to  note 
that  certain  tales  which  he  thinks  of  as  for  adults  are  graded 
for  children,  he  must  remember  that  a  story  that  is  told 
may  be  simplified  so  as  to  apply  to  a  much  younger  period 
than  as  if  for  reading,  and  that  it  forms  an  introductory 
acquaintance  for  later  reading. 

The  great  years  for  listening  to  stories  are  of  course 
the  first  three  or  four  years  after  the  child  enters  school, 
when  his  mind  is  awakening  but  he  himself  reads  with 
difficulty.  Accordingly,  the  largest  number  of  stories  listed 
below  is  for  the  years  between  six  and  nine.  Younger 
children  usually  prefer  a  story  complete  in  itself.  Their 
memory  powers  not  being  fully  developed,  they  like  a  story 
that  is  short,  simple  and  full  of  repetition.  There  are  a 
few  stories,  however,  which  have  these  qualities  and  yet 
which  may  be  told  serially.  A  few  of  these  are  listed 
below.  At  about  the  tenth  year,  there  is  usually  a  veritable 
fever  among  children  for  reading.  There  are,  however, 
some  boys  and  girls  who  do  not  like  to  read.  A  score  of 
stories,  full  of  action,  wholesome  in  quality  and  stimulative 
toward  personal  reading,  is  given  herewith. 


CONTINUED  STORIES  53 


Three  to  Six 

The  Tale  of  Benjamin  Bunny 

The  Tale  of  Peter  Rabbit 

Little  Hare  and  Her  Friends   (Sykes) 

The  Story  of  Joseph 

The  Story  of  the  Boyhood  of  David 

The  Story  of  the  Boyhood  of  Jesus 

Arabella  and   Araminta    (Smith) 

The  Roggie  and  Reggie  Stories  (Smith) 

The   Brownies    (Cox) 

The  Adventures  of   Pinocchio 

Uncle   Remus  Stories 

Peter  Pan 

Just  So  Stories 

Alice  in  Wonderland 

Six  to  Nine 

Perseus 

Theseus 

Jason 

Ulysses 

Thor,  Loki  and  Balder 

Siegfried 

Cuchulain 

Hiawatha 

Beautiful  Joe 

Robin  Hood 

The  Magic  Forest   (White') 

King  Arthur 

Indian  Boyhood   (Eastman) 

The  Faerie  Queene 

Don  Quixote 

William   Wallace 

Robert  Bruce 

Moses 

Charlemagne  and  Roland 

Saint  Francis 

Richard  the  Lion-Hearted 

Henry  of  Navarre 

Drake  and  Raleigh 

George  Washington 

Davy  Crockett 

Daniel  Boone 

David  Livingstone 


54  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Abraham  Lincoln 

Doctor  Grenfell 

The  Arabian  Nights 

Gulliver's  Travels 

Robinson  Crusoe 

Swiss  Family   Robinson 

Pilgrim's    Progress 

The  Nurnberg  Stove 

Master  Skylark   (Bennett) 

Captains    Courageous    (Kipling) 

Little  Women 

Rebecca  of   Sunnybrook  Farm 

Mother   Carey's   Chickens    (Wiggin) 

The  Widow  O'Callaghan's  Boys   (Zollinger) 

Jack  and  Jill  (Alcott) 

Little  Lord   Fauntleroy 

Jolly  Good  Times  (Smith) 

Castle  Blair  (Shaw) 

The  Prince  and  the  Pauper 

Treasure  Island 

Ivanhoe 

Oliver  Twist 

Ten  to  Twelve 

King  Arthur's  Round  Table 

The  Story  of  Siegfried 

Last  of   the  Mohicans 

Men  of  Iron   (Pyle) 

The  Deerslayer 

Rob  Roy 

Lorna  Doone 

Kidnapped 

Tom  Sawyer 

Kenilworth 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin 

Jean  Valjean 

To  Have  and  to  Hold 

Helen   Keller 

Henry   Esmond 

The  Story  of  Our  Country  (Based  on  Eggleston) 

The  Island  Story   (Marshall) 

Scotland's  Story  (Marshall) 


VII 

PICTURE  STORY-TELLING 

"You  hold  a  gift 

That  a  mine  of  gold  could  not  buy; 
Something  the  soul  of  a  man  to  lift 
From   the   tiresome   earth,   and   to   make  him   see 
How  beautiful   common   things   may  be." 

— Lucy  Larcom. 

Some  of  the  world's  greatest  pictures  are  story-pic- 
tures. The  "Sistine  Madonna,"  the  "Assumption,"  Murillo's 
"Beggar  Boys"  and  the  ''Gleaners"  are  not  only  good  stones, 
but  they  are  good  stories  seized  by  the  artists  at  the  greatest 
dramatic  moments. 

It  is  not  enough  to  leave  a  picture  with  a  young  child. 
"Usually,"  says  Estelle  M.  Hurll,  "their  interest  lasts  only 
a  moment,  unless  guided  by  an  older  companion.  The 
child,  untrained  to  concentration,  flits  from  subject  to  sub- 
ject as  a  butterfly  from  one  blossom  to  another.  But  let 
the  mother  begin  to  talk  about  the  picture,  and  the  child 
fixes  eager  eyes  upon  it  and  follows  every  word  with  breath- 
less attention.  And  'talking  about'  a  picture  is  simply  letting 
the  picture  talk,  provided,  of  course,  that  it  is  a  story- 
picture." 

The  value  of  picture  story-telling  is  very  great.  Do 
you  not  recall  the  life-long  interest  and  influence  of  some 
picture  which  hung  upon  the  wall  of  your  home  in  early 
childhood?  Considering  the  strength  of  the  influence  of 
pictures,  their  choice  should  not  be  by  accident.  If  it  is 
ever  right  to  look  a  gift-horse  in  the  mouth,  it  is  when 

55 


56  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

some  one  proposes  to  add  a  new  picture  by  gift  to  your 
home.  And  in  choosing  the  pictures  which  you  are  going 
to  purchase,  ought  you  not  to  be  glad  to  buy  those  which 
will  be  not  merely  bright  spots  or  imitations  of  the  choice 
of  your  neighbors,  but  shall  have  a  meaning  to  the  souls 
of  your  children  as  long  as  they  live? 

In  this  age  of  the  moving-picture  show,  in  the  main 
educational  and  even  morally  inspiring,  there  is  all  the  more 
need  for  emphasizing  pictures  that  do  not  move,  that  are 
still  and  silent  and  eternal.  Both  mind  and  heart  that  are 
disturbed  and  distracted 


"Like  a  tired  child  at  a  show 
That  sees  through  tears  the  mummers  leap 
Would  now  its  wearied  vision  close" 


upon  pictures  that  are  restful  and  that  share  in  the  peace  and 
shelter  of  home. 

One  of  our  best  story-tellers  has  observed  that  a  child 
loves  to  have  a  picture  which  he  can  hold  in  his  hand. 
We  notice  this  touch-instinct  in  the  eagerness  which  children 
have  to  handle  every  new  object  which  is  brought  to  their 
attention.  So  she  purchases  the  little  reproductions  which 
can  be  bought  for  half  a  cent,  and  the  children  like  them 
more  than  the  penny  pictures  because  they  can  handle  them 
and  love  them.  The  picture-hour,  therefore,  need  not  be 
expensive.  Perhaps  the  best  way  to  introduce  little  chil- 
dren to  pictures  which  they  shall  love  is  to  get  them  one 
of  the  tiny  reproductions  on  Perry  picture  or  postcard  and 
soon  after  buy  a  large  framed  reproduction  for  the  wall. 

Very  much  of  value  as  to  the  best  methods  of  educat- 
ing children  in  good  pictures  may  be  learned  from  a  study 
of  the  picture-interests  of  the  children.  We  shall,  here  as 
elsewhere,  be  more  successful  if  we  work  with  Nature 
than  against  her. 


PICTURE  STORY-TELLING  57 

THE  PICTURE-INTERESTS  OF  CHILDREN 

Young  children  are  known  to  have  a  practically  unani- 
mous interest  in  pictures  of  human  beings.  Ninety-nine  per 
cent,  of  the  drawings  of  little  folks  are  of  people.  They 
have  no  conception  of  perspective,  they  do  not  notice  de- 
tail (they  will  not  observe  that  a  figure  is  armless  unless 
someone  calls  their  attention  to  the  defect)  and  they  do 
not  care  for  ornaments,  but  they  begin  with  the  head  and 
face,  they  like  to  draw  people  in  action,  objects  of  daily 
use  and  things  close  at  hand,  and  as  soon  as  they  are  old 
enough  to  recognize  pictures  they  so  confidently  expect 
them  to  move  that  they  are  often  surprised  in  coming  back 
to  a  loved  picture  to  find  that  the  positions  of  the  figures 
have  not  changed.  "He  hasn't  got  him  yet !"  exclaimed  the 
little  fellow  delightedly,  when  he  saw  that  the  crocodile  had 
not  yet  caught  the  negro  boy  in  the  picture. 

Children  between  six  and  ten  like  to  recognize  in  pic- 
tures the  things  they  know,  such  as  people,  plants,  houses 
and  animals,  and  the  hobbies  in  which  they  have  begun  to 
be  interested.  No  feeling  for  landscape  has  been  discov- 
ered before  ten.  They  like  narrative-pictures  and  good 
strong  colors. 

Young  people  over  ten  begin  to  notice  perspective  and 
they  observe  detail  more  carefully.  Yet  before  having  had 
lessons  they  instinctively  put  human  heads  upon  their  ani- 
mals when  they  begin  to  draw,  as  if  the  human  interest 
still  dominated  every  other.  They  like  now  to  portray 
fanciful  and  dramatic  scenes,  such  as  incidents  in  the  stories 
they  read  and  hear,  battles,  snow  fights,  fires,  sports  and 
games,  and  all  the  scenic  side  of  life. 

With  adolescence  comes  the  first  real  love  of  beauty 
and  an  accompanying  interest  in  quiet  pictures  of  nature. 
There  is  still  a  strong  liking  for  story-pictures,  particularly 
those  of  romantic  and  symbolical  character.  They  love 
now  to  trace  out  details  and  allegories,  and  to  claim  as  their 
own  pictures  which  they  begin  to  cherish. 


58  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

This  brief  sketch  suggests  that  at  every  age  of  child- 
hood it  is  the  human  interest  and  the  story  that  win  atten- 
tion. The  subject  is  everything,  the  art  with  which  it  is 
pictured  is  nothing.  There  is  before  high-school  years  no 
technical  criticism,  little  care  for  composition,  selection  or 
tone,  and  still  less  any  desire  to  know  of  the  history  of  art. 


SUGGESTIONS   FOR   PICTURE-STUDY 

Some  points  which  are  emphasized  in  school  art-study 
are  evidently  unnecessary.  We  need  have  no  care  about 
putting  pictures  before  children  in  chronological  order ;  we 
must  not  confuse  picture-study  with  the  history  of  art.  We 
must  not  try  too  early  to  get  children  to  care  for  pictures 
simply  because  they  were  painted  by  great  artists.  "Young 
children's  votes,"  says  G.  Stanley  Hall,  "are  never  for  the 
old  masters,  whose  cult  below  the  teens  is  only  an  air  plant 
without  a  single  vital  root  that  strikes  into  their  souls. 
It  is  a  fool's  paradise  to  fancy  that  there  is  anything  in 
Michael  Angelo,  Raphael,  Rembrandt,  or  any  of  the  classic 
works  of  art  that  make  much  appeal  to  juveniles."  In  this 
connection  we  may  urge  that  certain  subjects  which  seem 
to  be  universally  selected  for  children  because  of  the  con- 
ventional choice  of  adults  may  properly  be  ignored  as  of  no 
actual  interest  to  them.  The  Roman  Forum  in  its  ruins, 
the  "sixteen"  Madonna  as  one  child  wearily  called  it,  and 
Prince  Baltazar  on  (rocking)  horse-back  may  be  instanced. 
One  quite  feels  in  sympathy  too  with  a  writer  in  the  Fore- 
runner who  says,  "To  me,  'Mona  Lisa'  is  a  slimy-looking 
creature,  and  I  mentally  cross  myself  every  time  I  look  at 
her  evil  eyes." 

We  need  not  worry  much  about  Scripture  or  historical 
continuity,  painters'  biographies,  appropriateness  to  season 
or  relation  to  other  school  work;  if  they  like  a  picture  at 
all,  they  will  like  it  at  one  time  as  well  as  another.  It  is 
apparently  useless  to  show  Corot,  Constable,  Diaz,  Ruisdael 


PICTURE  STORY-TELLING  59 

to  children  under  ten,  who  have  no  interest  in  landscape. 
It  is  a  question  whether  separate  portraits,  like  the  well- 
known  infant  Stuart,  the  Penelope  Boothby,  the  infant  Sam- 
uel, are  anywhere  near  as  interesting  as  much  less  famous 
children  in  action.  For  a  similar  psychological  (with  no 
regard  to  the  religious)  reason  we  have  probably  overdone 
the  Madonna,  the  Christ  Child  and  pictures  with  people  in 
unknown  costumes.  Since  children  have  so  little  apprecia- 
tion of  composition  and  tone,  pictures  whose  chief  charm 
is  their  color  ought  not  to  be  shown  in  monochrome. 
Corot's  "Springtime"  may  be  instanced  as  a  picture  which  in 
carbon  is  quite  meaningless  to  a  child. 

STUDYING  PICTURES  THROUGH  THE  STORY 

All  this  points  the  way  to  a  neglected  and  most  fruitful 
method  of  picture-study,  the  method  of  the  story.  Even 
the  writers  of  the  many  current  books  on  story-telling  have 
hardly  touched  upon  this  union  of  literature  and  art  in  early 
education.  It  is  true  that  Carolyn  Sherwin  Bailey  in  her 
"For  the  Story-teller"  says  that  "It  is  to  be  questioned 
whether  or  not  the  story  of  The  Little  Red  Hen'  would 
have  been  awarded  such  immortality  if  its  heroine  had  been 
a  plain  hen  and  not  red.''  But  she  does  not  follow  up  the 
point  by  showing  how  much  more  graphic  is  the  picture- 
book  showing  the  red  hen  than  even  the  most  animated 
monologue  about  her. 

Some  of  our  school-book  publishers  have  begun  to 
recognize  picture-study  in  their  reading  books.  The  three 
Cyr  readers  published  by  Ginn  &  Company  and  some  art 
readers,  published  by  the  Macmillan  Company  and  the 
American  Book  Company,  are  the  first  endeavors  to  bring 
children  into  contact  with  good  art  by  telling  stories  about 
great  pictures  which  are  interesting  to  little  children. 

It  may  be  objected  that  if  we  push  forward  the  story- 
interest  in  pictures  we  shall  not  do  justice  to  the  higher 
artistic  qualities.  The  higher  artistic  qualities  will  come 


60  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

later,  but  just  as  we  do  not  give  our  children  Robert  Brown- 
ing and  George  Meredith  until  they  come  to  them,  so  we 
should  not  give  them  the  masters  who  appeal  to  mature 
minds  until  they  are  themselves  mature. 

We  can  do  justice  both  to  art  and  to  letters.  If  we 
bore  the  children  with  our  picture-comment  now,  we  shall 
prevent  their  continuing  any  live  interest  in  the  picture- 
world,  but  if  we  are  as  careful  to  give  them  the  pictures 
they  can  appreciate  as  we  do  the  books  they  can  appreciate, 
we  shall  carry  them  with  us  up  to  the  highest  levels. 

THE   CHOICE    OF   PICTURES    FOR   CHILDREN 

We  may  summarize  our  suggestions  as  to  the  choice  of 
pictures  for  children,  as  follows : 

Give  them  pictures  of  people  in  action. 

Let  the  action  suggest  a  story  within  their  own 
experience  or  range  of  appreciation. 

Use  colored  pictures  whenever  possible,  if  it  is 
reasonably  good  color. 

Ignore  for  the  present  the  history  of  art,  chrono- 
logical order,  reference  to  technical  details. 

For  the  sake  of  later  impression  choose  pictures 
that  are  good  if  not  great,  honestly  drawn,  faith- 
fully colored,  sincerely  conceived. 

Avoid  in  the  main  the  weakly  sentimental,  but  post- 
pone until  adolescence  explanation  why  a  child 
of  Murillo  is  greater  than  one  of  Bouguercau, 
why  a  Madonna  of  Raphael  is  finer  than  one  of 
Max,  why  a  Botticelli  is  more  beautiful  than  a 
Landseer.  All  this  will  come  better  through  the 
work  in  drawing  in  the  school,  where  honest 
drawing  and  color  and  clear-cut  purpose  or 
sentiment  in  the  actual  work  of  creating  beauty 
will  give  the  child  a  good  sound  taste  and  the 
power  of  discriminating  for  himself. 


PICTURE  STORY-TELLING  61 


THE    METHODS    OF    STORY-TELLING 
THROUGH    PICTURES 

Let  us  hold  firmly  in  mind  this  thought, — that  the  pur- 
pose of  helping  children  to  love  pictures  through  stories 
about  them  is  to  create  memories  that  shall  last,  as  we  hope, 
all  their  lives.  We  wish  to  make  our  children  feel  the  im- 
portance of  these  pictures  so  much  that  they  shall  take 
them  seriously  and  we  want  to  tell  our  stories  so  well  that 
ever  afterward  the  story  will  recall  the  picture  or  the  pic- 
ture the  story. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  little  child  has  come  to  our 
arms  at  the  close  of  the  day.  We  give  him  a  small  colored 
reproduction  of  a  great  picture  to  hold  in  his  hand.  As 
he  looks  at  it  curiously,  we  tell  the  story  in  an  animated 
manner.  We  encourage  him  to  ask  questions  about  it. 
We  tell  him  all  that  we  know,  or  if  we  think  it  better  to 
pique  his  curiosity,  we  promise  to  continue  the  story  the 
following  evening.  After  a  day  or  two  we  bring  the  picture 
to  him  again  and  ask  him  to  tell  it  to  us.  By  this  review 
the  picture  is  fixed  in  his  mind.  The  picture  is  hung  low 
in  the  living-room  or  in  the  child's  own  room  where  he  can 
see  it.  It  is  often  referred  to  by  the  mother  and  the  child 
is  encouraged  to  show  it  to  his  playmates  and  to  tell  the 
story  of  it  to  others.  Finally  this  picture,  or  a  large  repro- 
duction, is  put  in  a  permanent  place  and  so  becomes  one 
of  the  treasures  of  the  home  and  of  the  child.  If  a  choice 
picture  was  introduced  to  a  household  after  having  under- 
gone the  same  scrutiny  and  being  accompanied  by  the  same 
tact  and  thought  fulness  as  a  human  friend,  it  will  take  its 
place  as  one  of  the  permanent  friends  of  the  home. 

With  boys  and  girls  between  six  and  fourteen  very 
much  the  same  method  may  be  used.  In  addition,  it  is 
often  possible  to  refer  the  child  to  books,  especially  story- 
books or  poems  in  which  the  story  of  the  picture  is  told 
more  in  detail.  It  is  the  experience  of  public  librarians  that 


62  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

this  method  often  allures  many  children  who  are  not  fond 
of  books  to  read  them  with  interest. 

Adolescence  is  the  golden  age  for  picture-study.  In 
these  days  of  idealism,  it  is  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall's  opinion 
that  "Art  should  not  now  be  for  art's  sake,  but  for  the  sake 
of  feeling  and  character,  life  and  conduct.  Such  an  oppor- 
tunity for  infecting  the  soul  with  vaccine  of  ideality,  hope, 
optimism,  and  courage  in  adversity,  will  never  come  again." 
And  in  another  place  he  says,  "Pictures  that  represent  every 
noble  passion  writ  strong  and  large  should  be  shown  and 
impressed.  Art  thus  taught  is  perhaps  the  best  of  all  initia- 
tions into  adolescence.  It  is  the  chief  regulator  of  the  heart 
out  of  which  are  the  issues  of  life."  With  adolescent  young 
people  a  description  of  a  picture  may  be  left  for  their  own 
reading.  "See  how  much  you  can  find  in  this  picture" 
is  also  a  good  introduction  by  which  parents  may  leave  a 
reproduction  with  a  young  person  with  no  further  prelude 
or  explanation.  This  opens  the  way  to  talk  the  picture  over 
later  and  to  see  how  much  the  boy  or  girl  has  gotten  out 
of  it. 

The  laws  of  story-telling  do  not  differ  materially, 
whether  one  uses  pictures  or  not  "Introduce  your  thunder 
clap,  your  story  hero  in  the  first  sentence,"  urges  Miss 
Bailey.  So  with  the  picture,  point  at  once  to  the  central 
figure  and  tell  some  active  thing  about  him.  A  good  pic- 
ture, like  a  good  story,  generally  starts  in  the  middle,  and 
from  that  point  it  is  easy,  having  aroused  interest,  to  work 
back  to  the  beginning.  In  Leighton's  "Captive  Androm- 
ache," for  example,  to  be  shown  and  told  to  older  young 
people,  the  beautiful,  plaintive  central  figure  at  once  appeals 
to  the  interest  of  the  listener  to  know  what  came  before 
which  brought  her  into  her  present  plight. 

From  the  central  figure  we  pass  to  the  minor  charac- 
ters. They  form  successive  chapters  of  the  picture-story. 
In  "When  Did  You  Last  See  Your  Father?"  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  sturdy  lad  in  the  center  actually  requires  a  de- 


PICTURE  STORY-TELLING  63 

scription  of  each  other  character  in  the  room  before  the 
story  is  really  concluded. 

In  a  story-picture  landscape  is  always  secondary  to  the 
human  interest,  and  so  this  lesser  attraction  is  dwelt  upon 
only  to  emphasize  the  dramatic  situation.  In  Boughton's 
pictures  of  the  Pilgrims  it  is  always  the  snow  and  the 
winter  that  emphasize  the  bravery  of  our  forefathers. 
In  "The  Gleaners"  the  hot  sun  and  the  yellow  fields,  sug- 
gested even  in  an  uncolored  print,  give  force  to  the  mean- 
ing of  toil.  Details  also  minister  to  the  story  or  else  they 
are  irrelevant.  Adolescents  are  peculiarly  fond  of  study- 
ing out  parables  and  analogies,  and  so  Holman  Hunt  and 
Watts  and  many  of  the  Pre-Raphaelites  seem  especially  to 
belong  to  them.  Attention  is  given  to  this  interest  in  some 
of  the  pictures  selected  in  the  list  below.  With  adolescents 
also  we  may  show  how  composition  or  line  or  tone  add  even 
to  the  story-interest  or  complete  the  meaning  of  the  artist. 
A  high-school  pupil  can  appreciate  how  the  circles  in  the 
"Madonna  of  the  Chair"  and  the  curves  in  the  Botticelli  Ma- 
donna of  the  Louvre  bring  mother  and  child  together  and 
symbolize  the  encircling  and  secluding  love  of  the  mother. 
He  can  also  see  how  the  converging  angles  in  "The  Fighting 
Temeraire"  suggest  the  idea  of  a  ship  advancing  toward  the 
right  foreground  of  the  picture. 

TWO    PICTURE   STORIES 

It  may  be  helpful  to  give  two  short  picture-stories 
which  were  prepared  by  the  writer  to  accompany  reproduc- 
tions of  two  well-known  paintings.  The  pictures  themselves 
are  so  familiar  that  they  need  not  be  reproduced  here. 
The  first  of  these  is  a  story  for  little  boys.  The  reader 
will  note  that  the  writer  took  considerable  pains  to  collect 
all  the  facts  concerning  the  picture  and  the  painter  which 
would  be  interesting  to  children,  and  that,  in  the  course 
of  the  story,  he  calls  attention  to  every  possible  detail  of 
composition  or  color  in  the  picture. 


64  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

"BOY    AND    RABBIT" 

By  SIR  HENRY  RAEBURN,  R.  S.  A.,  R.  A. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  was  the  most  loved  story-teller  in 
Scotland  and  Sir  Henry  Raeburn  was  the  most  loved 
painter,  and  they  were  friends.  Both  of  them  lived  in 
Edinburgh  when  they  were  boys. 

Sir  Henry  Raeburn  was  very  fond  of  children  and 
of  flowers.  One  morning  when  he  was  walking  in  his  gar- 
den, he  saw  over  in  one  corner  a  little  poor  boy.  When 
he  went  near  to  him  the  boy  was  much  frightened,  but  he 
held  up  a  piece  of  paper  in  his  hand  for  Sir  Henry  to 
look  at.  Upon  the  paper  was  a  sketch  of  one  of  the  beauti- 
ful windows  of  Sir  Henry's  house,  which  this  boy  had 
made.  He  told  the  boy  to  come  again,  but  to  come  next 
time  through  the  gate  and  not  over  the  wall.  Afterward 
he  helped  this  boy,  who  was  a  poor  shoemaker's  son  in 
Edinburgh,  by  giving  him  lessons,  and  years  later,  when 
he  became  a  man,  this  boy  became  a  celebrated  artist  him- 
self. 

It  was  one  of  the  boys  who  wandered  into  his  garden 
that  Sir  Henry  Raeburn  was  thinking  of  when  he  painted 
this  picture.  Perhaps  it  was  this  little  shoemaker's  son. 
Perhaps  it  was  one  of  his  own  children,  or  grandchildren. 
This  boy  in  the  picture  has  been  out  in  the  garden  in  the 
early  morning  to  pick  some  fresh  leaves  for  his  pet  bunny, 
and  he  has  picked  some  roses,  too,  for  his  mother.  The 
rabbit,  which  is  a  white  one  with  a  brown  spot  on  its  back, 
has  come  out  from  its  home  in  the  shed  to  have  its  break- 
fast. The  boy  has  put  his  arm  around  his  pet  because  he 
loves  it,  and  he  looks  up  to  see  who  is  coming.  He  is  look- 
ing right  into  the  painter's  face.  This  artist  loved  to  paint 
people  with  their  faces  in  the  light  and  full  of  joy  and 
health.  He  wanted  to  picture  them  at  their  best. 

Do  you  notice  in  what  beautiful  clothes  the  painter  has 


PICTURE  STORY-TELLING  65 

dressed  this  boy?  You  see,  he  has  on  a  shirt  of  some 
soft  white  material,  with  a  sailor  collar  that  opens  wide  in 
the  front.  His  trousers  are  bright-colored  and  his  black 
cap  is  put  on  a  little  one  side.  Do  you  not  think  this  lad  has 
a  beautiful  face  and  a  pleasant  smile  ? 

After  he  has  fed  his  rabbit  he  will  carry  the  flowers 
in  to  his  mother,  and  they  will  have  their  breakfast  to- 
gether. 

When  Henry  Raeburn  had  become  famous,  King 
George  IV,  who  made  Walter  Scott  a  knight,  came  to  Scot- 
land and  knighted  his  friend,  the  painter,  too.  The  year 
before  that  the  artists  of  England  gave  him  the  highest 
honor  they  could :  they  made  him  a  member  of  their  Royal 
Academy.  When  anyone  has  this  honor  given  him,  he  must 
give  the  Academy  one  of  his  best  paintings.  Sir  Henry  Rae- 
burn painted  many  famous  people,  but  the  picture  he  gave 
the  Royal  Academy  was  this  "Boy  and  Rabbit." 

The  second  story  will  perhaps  be  more  interesting  to 
girls.  In  this  case,  too,  details  as  to  painter,  character  and 
purpose  were  collected.  Color  and  composition  are  pointed 
out  with  considerable  care  and  the  natural  opportunity  for 
a  sweet  and  simple  lesson  is  taken  advantage  of  in  the 
course  of  the  story. 


"THE   AGE    OF   INNOCENCE" 

» 

By  SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS,  P.  R.  A. 

Does  it  seem  possible  that  the  most  charming  pictures 
of  children  ever  painted  were  made  by  an  old  bachelor? 
Yet  he  was  such  a  loving  old  fellow  that  Samuel  Johnson 
said  to  him  once :  "Reynolds,  you  hate  no  one  living ;  I  like 
a  good  hater !"  We  are  told  that  his  great  house  was  often 
full  of  children  and  that  he  kept  special  toys  and  sweetmeats 
on  hand  with  which  to  amuse  them.  It  was  certainly  a 


66  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

great  honor  when  he  chose  one  of  his  little  friends  as  the 
subject  of  one  of  his  paintings. 

This  is  said  to  be  the  picture  of  his  little  grandniece. 
She  must  have  been  about  six  years  old  when  this  picture 
was  painted.  The  picture  tells  its  own  story.  She  has  been 
running  about  barefoot  all  the  morning.  She  awoke  with 
the  birds  and  went  out  among  them,  watching  the  sunshine 
leap  and  play.  The  clouds  were  as  white  as  curds  and 
the  trees  were  like  great  bouquets.  She  knew  where  all 
the  flowers  grew.  She  ran  down  through  the  meadow  to 
pluck  some  of  them  before  breakfast.  All  the  morning  she 
was  in  the  garden  and  with  her  playmates,  rolling  her  hoop, 
tossing  her  ball  and  playing  with  her  little  friends.  I 
think  they  have  been  chasing  her  in  a  game  and  that  she 
has  sat  down  under  a  tree,  all  breathless,  to  rest  a  minute. 
When  she  puts  her  hands  against  her  breast  she  can  feel 
her  heart  beating  hard.  As  she  sits  there,  she  hears  a  sky- 
lark, and  the  loving  painter  caught  her  just  as  she  was 
listening  to  its  beautiful  song. 

To  the  picture  of  this  little  girl,  with  the  sweet  face 
and  the  lovely,  unspoiled  nature,  Sir  Joshua  gave  the  name, 
"The  Age  of  Innocence."  He  dressed  her  in  a  spotless 
gown  as  simple  as  her  purity.  There  is  just  a  touch  of  pink 
at  her  waist  and  in  her  hair  to  match  the  tint  of  her  cheeks. 
The  dear  painter  no  doubt  agreed  with  the  poet  who  said 
of  a  little  girl  child  like  her,  that  she  had  "the-  spirit  of  all 
dews  and  flowers  and  springs  and  tender  sweet  wonders." 
Or,  perhaps,  he  had  read  the  Lithuanian  legend  that  when 
the  Lord  God  had  made  the  first  man  and  the  first  woman 
and  had  set  them  in  Eden,  He  grew  lonesome  because  there 
was  no  music  from  any  soft,  small  throat.  So 

"He  took  of  the  sun  a  golden  beam, 

And  He  took  the  carol  the  red-breast  sings; 
The  ripple  He  took  of   a  clear,   cool   stream, 

And  the  shining  down   from  a  ringdove's  wings ; 
And  a  rose  and  a  lily  He  took,  and  smiled, 
As  He  mixed  them  up  and  He  made  a  child," 


PICTURE  STORY-TELLING  67 

And  when  the  man  and  the  woman  went  away  from  the  Gar- 
den, the  child  stayed,  and  he  is  singing  in  the  Garden  yet — 
if  we  only  knew  the  way  to  find  him. 


THE    PERMANENT    VALUE    OF    PICTURES 

When  the  pictures,  so  studied  and  thus  loved,  have  been 
permanently  placed  in  the  home,  they  take  their  place  as 
part  of  its  spiritual  furnishing.  Read  earnestly  this  word 
which  Parker  and  Union  say  in  their  'The  Art  of  Building 
a  Home": 

"Understanding  something  of  the  true  meaning  of  art, 
we  may  set  about  realizing  it,  at  least  in  the  homes  which 
are  so  much  within  our  control.  Let  us  have  such  ornament 
as  we  do  have  really  beautiful,  something  which  it  has  given 
pleasure  to  the  producer  to  create  and  which  shows  this  in 
every  line.  Let  us  call  in  the  artist  .  .  .  and  bid  him  paint 
on  our  walls  landscapes  and  scenes  which  shall  bring  light 
and  life  into  the  room;  which  shall  speak  of  nature,  purity 
and  truth;  shall  become  part  of  the  room,  of  the  walls  on 
which  they  are  painted,  and  of  the  lives  of  us  who  live 
beside  them;  paintings  which  our  children  shall  grow  up 
to  love,  and  shall  always  connect  with  scenes  of  home 
with  that  vividness  of  a  memory  from  childhood  which  no 
time  can  efface.  .  .  .  Let  the  floor  go  undecorated,  and  the 
wood  unpainted  that  we  may  have  time  to  think,  and  money 
with  which  to  educate  our  children  to  think  also.  Let  us 
have  rooms  which  once  decorated  are  always  decorated, 
rooms  fit  to  be  homes  in  the  fullest  poetry  of  the  name; 
rooms  which  can  form  backgrounds,  fitting  and  dignified,  at 
the  time  and  in  our  memories,  for  all  those  little  scenes, 
those  acts  of  kindness  and  small  duties,  as  well  as  the  scenes 
of  deep  emotion  and  trial,  which  make  up  the  drama  of  our 
lives  at  home." 


68  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

MORAL  EDUCATION   THROUGH   PICTURE- 
STORIES 

The  opportunity  for  direct  moral  training  through  pic- 
tures has  been  neglected.  Modern  education  is  emphasiz- 
ing the  central  importance  of  the  feelings  as  the  background 
of  interest,  habit  and  will.  The  writer  remembers  a  steel 
engraving  of  "The  Three  Graces,"  which  he  has  learned 
later  was  from  an  artist  named  Hicks,  a  most  unlikely  pic- 
ture to  attract  the  attention  of  a  boy ;  yet  it  seemed  to  him 
that  the  Charity  with  lambent  eyes  in  the  center  was  his 
ideal  of  unimpassioned  perfection,  while  the  eager  Hope 
in  the  foreground  held  all  that  was  winsome,  and  the  whole 
group  was  steadying  and  inspiring.  Especially  does  the  new 
interest  in  detail  cause  the  youth  now  to  search  out  and 
remember  every  moral  implication  in  a  picture.  Says  Miss 
Hurll:  "To  search  out  all  the  charming  accessories  of  a 
Dutch  interior  is  almost  like  unpacking  a  stocking  full  of 
Christmas  toys."  And  the  parables  of  Holman  Hunt  and 
the  allegories  of  George  F.  Watts  and  the  romantic  sug- 
gestions of  Millais  and  Leighton  seem  almost  evangelic 
in  their  influence  upon  young  people. 

Particularly  in  its  portrayal  of  the  beauty  in  common 
things  does  art  teach  us  the  great  commonplace  virtues  of 
fidelity  and  contentment.  Lowell  tells  us : 

"As  with  words  the  poet  paints,  for  you 
The  happy  pencil  at  its  labor  sings, 
Stealing   his    privilege,   nor   does    him    wrong, 
Beneath  the  false  discovering  the  true 
And  Beauty's  best  in  unregarded  things." 

We  have  all  of  us  not  only  learned  more  about  the  de- 
tails of  the  life  of  Jesus  from  pictures  than  we  have  from  the 
Bible,  but  we  have  perhaps  absorbed  fully  as  much  about  his 
attitude,  his  ideals  and  his  activities  from  the  former  source 
as  from  the  latter.  Reproductions  of  sacred  art  have  begun 
to  be  used  in  teaching  the  story  of  Jesus  and  also  the  history 


PICTURE  STORY- TELLING  69 

of  the  Old  Testament.  Why  do  we  not  go  a  step  further 
and  study  morals  through  well-selected  pictures  which  illu- 
minate the  great  cardinal  virtues?  If  we  can  help  the  chil- 
dren to  love  them,  and  if  further  they  can  own  them,  are 
we  not  directly  helping  to  give  them  those  permanent  in- 
spirations which  came  to  ourselves,  largely  through  acci- 
dent, by  the  old  home-pictures  ?  Some  of  these  pictures 
they  will  no  doubt  outgrow,  but  they  will  hardly  outgrow 
their  influence,  and  in  later  time  they  will  love  them  over 
again  as  relics  of  a  cherished  but  an  almost  forgotten  child- 
hood. 

The  use  of  pictures  for  moral  ends  is  not  different  from 
that  for  artistic  ends.  The  child  in  either  case  must  love 
the  picture  and  understand  it  before  it  can  influence  either 
mind  or  soul.  A  good  picture,  like  a  good  story,  should  point 
its  own  moral,  and  it  is  as  sinful  to  "tag  a  moral"  to  a 
picture  as  Dr.  Henry  van  Dyke  tells  us  it  is  to  a  story. 
The  very  questions  that  bring  out  the  artistic  detail  will 
impress  the  lesson  which  the  artist  is  teaching,  and  time 
and  reflection  will  do  the  rest. 

A  number  of  the  pictures  which  have  been  named  at 
the  close  of  this  chapter  are  most  useful  in  the  suggestion 
of  heroic  character,  patient  endurance  or  generous  achieve- 
ment. They  are  especially  the  pictures  too  that  will  last, 
and  so  have  a  lasting  influence.  In  collecting  them  for  this 
purpose  it  is  helpful  to  reinforce  their  moral  suggestive- 
ness  by  choice  quotations,  easily  memorized,  which  will  be 
remembered  with  the  picture.  The  alert  teacher  of  religion 
will  note  how  many  such  pictures  have  an  important  place 
for  use  as  comparisons  in  teaching  Scripture  biography. 
By  analogy  of  circumstance  or  virtue  they  may  be  help- 
fully used  in  Bible  study.  A  few  of  these  suggested  analo- 
gies are  as  follows: 

"When  Did  You  See  Your  Father?"  to  accompany  the 
story  of  Daniel. 

"Nathan  Hale"  to  accompany  the  story  of  Stephen. 


70  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

"The  Fighting  Temeraire"  to  accompany  the  story  of 
Paul. 

"Christ  or  Diana"  to  accompany  the  story  of  the  mar- 
tyrs. 

"Washington  Laying  down  his  Commission"  to  ac- 
company the  story  of  Moses. 

"Angels  in  the  Kitchen"  and  "Lavabo"  to  suggest  the 
topic,  Religion  in  Common  Life. 

"Saint  Christopher"  to  suggest  the  thought,  Disciple- 
ship. 

"Christ  in  the  Temple"  to  suggest  the  thought  of  the 
religious  committal  of  youth. 

"Light  of  the  World"  to  suggest  the  thought,  Conver- 
sion. 

"King  Arthur's  Round  Table"  to  suggest  the  thought, 
Consecration. 

"Is  It  Nothing  to  You  ?"  to  suggest  the  thought,  "nobler 
loves  and  nobler  cares." 

"St.  Ursula's  Dream"  and  "The  Gleaners"  to  suggest 
the  thought,  Fidelity. 

"The  Lark"  to  suggest  the  thought,  Worship  through 
Nature. 

"Robert  Louis  Stevenson"  to  suggest  the  thought, 
Friendship  unto  death. 

"Feed  My  Lambs"  to  suggest  the  thought,  Brother- 
hood. 

"The  Angelus"  and  "The  Never  Ending  Prayer"  to 
suggest  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

"Herakles  Wrestling  With  Death"  and  "The  Sea  Gave 
up  Its  Dead"  to  suggest  Immortality. 

As  young  people  grow  older,  there  is  direct  moral  in- 
fluence in  causing  them  to  realize  the  deeper  meaning  of 
the  struggle  of  the  artist  or  of  the  history  of  the  picture. 
If  a  young  person  can  come  to  see  the  obstacles  of  the  times 
in  which  the  artist  lived,  the  lack  of  appreciation  which  he 
met,  the  seriousness  of  his  effort,  the  conquest  over  his  ad- 


PICTURE  STORY-TELLING  71 

versaries,  the  beauty  which  shone  through  his  primitive 
technique,  the  great  spiritual  thought  which  was  underneath 
his  work,  then  the  very  soul  of  the  picture  may  enter  into 
his  soul.  In  his  chapter  on  "The  Personal  Element"  in  his 
fine  book  "The  Meaning  of  Pictures,"  Dr.  J.  C.  van  Dyke 
assures  us  that  "the  man — be  he  weak  or  strong,  good 
or  bad,  noble  or  ignoble,  serious  or  flippant — eventually 
appears  in  his  work."  And  he  says  further,  "The  frank 
statement  of  personal  feeling  or  faith  in  an  artist,  the  candid 
autobiography,  has  done  more  to  show  people  how  to 
live  than  all  the  long  volumes  of  scientific  history."  It  does 
a  young  person  just  as  much  good  to  come  in  contact 
with  a  great  life  in  a  picture  as  in  a  biography,  and  here  is 
the  moral  inspiration  that  Ruskin  believed  in  when  he  in- 
sisted that  admiration  of  great  pictures  helps  us  to  "become 
able  to  rejoice  more  in  what  others  are  than  what  we  are 
ourselves,  and  more  in  the  strength  that  is  forever  above  us 
than  in  what  we  can  ever  attain." 

A    LIST    OF    STORY    PICTURES 

The  following  list  is  in  no  sense  the  "best  one  hundred 
pictures"  for  the  ages  represented.  It  is  simply  a  list  that 
illustrates  the  points  which  have  just  been  made.  It  in- 
cludes some  pictures  chosen  partly  because  they  are  not  so 
well  known  as  others. 

The  abbreviations  in  the  third  column  indicate  the  pub- 
lishers. Their  names,  addresses  and  the  prices  of  their  pic- 
tures are  as  follows : 

Institute,  American  Institute  of  Child  Life,  1714  Chestnut  St., 
Phila.,  20c. 

Perry,  Perry  Pictures   Co.,  Maiden,  Mass.,  Ic. 

Cosmos,  Cosmos  Pictures  Co.,  119  West  25th  St.,  New  York, 
25c.  doz. 

Reinthal,  Reinthal  &  Newman,  106  West  29th  St.,  New  York,  5c. 

Detroit  Pub.  Co.,  Detroit  Publishing  Co.,  Detroit,  Mich.,  5c. 

Gross,  Edward  Gross  Co.,  New  York  City,  5c. 

Chicago  Museum,  Chicago  Museum  of  Art,  Chicago,  111.,  Sc. 


72 


MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


Children  Up  to  Six 

Boy  and  Rabbit  Raeburn 

Feeding  Her  Birds  Millet 

Scene  in  a  Courtyard  De  Hooch 

Mother  and  Daughter  Le  Brun 

The  Blessing  Chardin 

The  Pantry  Door  De  Hooch 

Bedtime  J.  W.   Smith 

The  Shepherd's  Chief  Mourner  Landseer 

The  Age  of  Innocence  Reynolds 

By-lo  Baby  Bunting  Burd 
Katinka,  the  Little  Dutch  Girl 


Institute 

Perry 
/  Cosmos 
\Reinthal 

Reinthal 

Reinthal 

Reinthal 

Cosmos 

Institute 

Institute 

Institute 


For  Children  Seven  to  Fourteen 


Young  Raleigh 

When  Did  You  Last  See  Your 

Father  ? 

The  Never-Ending  Prayer 
The  Doctor 
"I  Will  Lift  Up  Mine  Eyes 

Unto  the  Hills" 

The  Lion  of  Lucerne 

Cinderella 

Peter  Pan 

Making  the  First  Flag 

The  Drums  of  the  Fore  and  Aft 

Frank  and  the  Ponies 

The  Story  of  the  Porringer 


Millais 


fYeames 

Maes 
Fildes 

^Taylor 

Thorwaldsen 
Dulac 

Mosler 
Statz 

Detroit 

Gross 

/Perry 
\Cosmos 
Institute 
Institute 
Institute 
Institute 
Institute 
Institute 

For  Young. People  Fourteen  to  Twenty 


The   Child   in  the  Temple  Hunt 

The  Fighting  Temeraire  Turner 

Captive  Andromache  Leighton 

Christ  or  Diana  Long 

The  Angelus  Millet 

The  Shadow  of  Death  Hunt 

The  Gleaners  Millet 


/Perry 
"^Cosmos 
Reinthal 
Institute 
Perry 
Cosmos 
Perry 
Perry 


PICTURE  STORY-TELLING  73 

Sweet  and  Low  Taylor  Gross 

The  Song  of  the  Lark  Breton  Chicago   Museum 

The  Aztec  Bride  Leigh  Institute 

The  Charge  of  the  V.  M.  I.  \  T      ., 

Cadets  Institute 

The  Light  of  the  World  Hunt  Perry 

A  list  of  books  containing  picture-descriptions  and  sug- 
gestions for  explaining  pictures  to  children  is  given  in  Ap- 
pendix III. 


VIII 
THE  RELATION  OF  STORIES  TO  PLAY 

"Once  more  the  children  throng  the  lanes, 

Themselves  like  flowers,  to  weave 
Their  garlands  and  their  daisy-chains 

And  listen  and  believe 
The  tale  of  Once-upon-a-time, 

And  hear  the  Long-ago 

And  Happy-ever-after  chime 

Because  it  must  be  so." 

— Alfred  Noyes. 

The  relation  of  a  child's  play  to  his  favorite  stories  has 
been  made  a  special  study  by  Prof.  H.  M.  Burr  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  Training  College  at  Springfield,  with  the  idea 
of  taking  advantage  of  its  possibilities  in  education.  He 
has  planned  a  graded  course  in  stories  as  follows: 

"1.  Race  stories,  especially  Teutonic  myths,  legends 
and  folklore.  Stories  appealing  to  the  imagination  and 
illustrating  the  attempts  of  the  child  race  to  explain  the 
wonders  of  the  world  in  which  he  lives. 

"2.     Stories  of  nature ;  animal  and  plant  stories. 

"3.  Stories  of  individual  prowess ;  hero  tales, — Sam- 
son, Hercules,  etc.  Stories  of  early  inventions. 

"4.  Stories  of  great  leaders  and  patriots.  Social 
heroes  from  Moses  to  Washington. 

"5.  Stories  of  love,  altruism,  love  of  woman,  love  of 
country  and  home,  love  of  beauty,  truth  and  God." 

74 


THE  RELATION  OF  STORIES  TO  PLAY  75 

He  suggests  the  possibility  of  associating  with  these 
stories,  as  appropriate  means  of  expression,  activities  as 
follows : 

"With  nature  stones,  myths,  and  legends  would  be  asso- 
ciated tramps  in  the  woods  and  every  variety  of  nature 
study ;  care  of  animals,  plants,  etc. 

"With  stories  of  individual  prowess  would  be  asso- 
ciated the  individualistic  games,  athletic  and  gymnastic 
work  for  the  development  of  individual  strength  and  ability, 
also,  constructive  work  of  the  more  elementary  type, — work 
with  clay,  knife  work,  basket  weaving,  etc. 

"With  the  stories  of  great  leaders  and  patriots  would 
be  associated  games  which  involve  team  play,  leadership, 
obedience  to  leader,  and  subordination  of  self  to  the  group. 

"With  the  altruistic  stories  would  be  associated  altruis- 
tic efforts  in  behalf  of  boys  who  are  less  favored." 

We  are  convinced  that  some  such  correlation  is  uncon- 
sciously attempted  by  many  children  between  their  play  and 
their  reading.  It  may  well  be  carried  further  by  the  con- 
scious endeavor  of  parents  and  teachers. 


THE    STORY    GAME 

"Story  motivates  the  child  and  play  expresses  him," 
says  Mari  Hofer.  This  is  the  deeper  correlation,  and  the 
one  with  which  we  are  most  familiar.  In  the  home,  in  the 
writer's  observation,  story-telling  soon  develops  a  particular 
kind  of  self-activity,  which  might  be  called  the  story  game. 
A  good  story  would  be  acted  out  as  a  play  the  next  Satur- 
day. If  the  children  saw  a  good  drama,  they  insisted  on 
adding  some  more  acts  to  it  at  home. 

They  begin  to  write  stories  themselves.  I  have  bor- 
rowed the  following  account  of  an  actual  method  from  my 
"The  Coming  Generation." 

You  should  have  a  big  blank  book,  on  the  title  page 
of  which  you  may  write,  "The  New  Crusoe." 


76  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

First,  we  imagine  that  we  have  been  wrecked  on  an 
unknown  island,  and  while  we  are  drawing  a  rough  sketch 
of  the  wreck,  the  children  are  deciding  the  best  things  to 
take  ashore.  Of  course,  in  the  haste  of  leaving,  it  is  hard 
to  think  of  everything,  but  as  we  cannot  supply  any  needs 
later,  except  by  our  own  ingenuity,  we  must  be  as  self- 
possessed  as  possible.  The  leader's  part  all  through  is  to 
listen  and  put  down  what  is  decided  upon.  He  makes  no 
suggestions  himself,  unless  everybody  else  is  cornered. 
Indeed  the  story  almost  tells  itself. 

Each  night  the  map  of  the  country  may  be  extended 
as  far  as  they  have  explored  it.  The  children  shall  name  all 
the  points  of  interest.  Several  maps  will  be  needed  before 
we  get  through,  to  show  particular  districts  more  clearly. 

We  camp  the  first  night  close  by  the  shore  under  a  tent 
of  old  tarpaulin.  We  are  busy  for  a  week  in  bringing  our 
goods  ashore  before  the  ship  broke  up.  But  our  tent  was 
entirely  unsheltered,  and  far  from  fresh  water.  As  soon 
as  we  had  cleared  the  wreck  of  everything,  even  the  bolts 
and  beams,  we  began  to  take  short  exploring  trips.  We 
followed  up  wandering  Wiggle  Brook  until  we  came  to  a 
cool  spring  in  the  forest,  on  a  considerable  hill.  This  hill, 
since  we  found  in  the  mud  near  the  spring  a  human  foot- 
step, we  named  Foot-step  Hill.  Here  we  pitched  our  camp, 
hither  removed  our  possessions. 

After  a  while  we  pastured  our  flocks  and  herds  in  the 
Grassy  Meadow  to  the  east  of  us,  but  being  much  troubled 
by  wild  beasts,  and  still  fearing  wild  men,  we  finally  re- 
moved our  whole  establishment  to  a  Tree  House  and  stock- 
ade which  we  built  on  the  higher  hills  farther  from  the 
water.  We  still  overlooked  the  sea,  however,  and  our 
American  flag  waved  constantly  aloft  as  a  signal  to  any 
passing  ship. 

There  is  not  time  to  tell  you  of  the  strange  way  a  young 
Prince  of  the  Island  came  and  made  his  home  with  us,  and 
first  made  us  aware  of  the  bloodthirsty  tribe  that  lived  over 
the  lofty  Donjon  Mountains  toward  the  south.  Nor  can  I 


THE  RELATION  OF  STORIES  TO  PLAY  77 

relate  the  life  story  of  the  venerable  white  hermit,  believed 
by  those  savages  a  demon  of  witchcraft,  who  dwelt  at  the 
top  alone,  in  his  mountain  cave.  Are  not  all  these  written 
in  the  Chronicles  of  the  New  Crusoe  by  Archie,  Davie,  and 
Jack? 

The  story  still  goes  on.  Often  we  take  up  the  book 
and  find,  in  a  child's  laggard  handwriting,  a  new  adventure 
or  a  bold  sketch  of  some  fresh  affray. 

At  any  time  of  day  or  night,  one  needs  only  make 
some  such  remarks  as,  "Do  you  remember  what  we  did  the 
morning  we  found  the  charmed  necklace  at  the  foot  of  the 
tree  in  the  stockade?"  and  they  are  off  like  a  shot.  Some- 
times they  seem  to  live  two  lives  alongside  at  once. 

All  this,  as  may  be  imagined,  makes  an  introduction 
not  only  to  good  books,  but  also  to  fullness  of  life. 

The  way  stories  run  on  into  dramatic  play  is  subject 
for  another  monograph.  The  author  once  had  an  experi- 
ence with  a  group  of  boys  who  became  interested  in  Hia- 
watha and  wanted  to  dramatize  it.  He  supposed  it  was  to 
be  a  month's  task,  but  the  preparations,  involving  all  kinds 
of  handicraft  in  scene-making  and  costumes,  took  all  winter. 
There  was,  in  his  experience,  hardly  a  lively  story  that  did 
not  appear  soon  in  his  children's  play,  and  sometimes  in  dis- 
tinctive dramatic  efforts  in  the  way  of  "family  shows,"  that 
were  both  respectable  and  amusing. 


STORY-PLAYING    ON    SUNDAY 

This  sort  of  dramatic-play-story  telling  is  especially 
appropriate  to  the  quiet  home  occupations  of  Sunday.  In 
a  little  book  by  John  T.  Paris,  entitled  "Pleasant  Sunday 
Afternoons  for  the  Children,"  published  by  the  Sunday 
School  Times  Co.,  two  actual  instances  of  such  story-play 
are  given,  one  for  outdoors  and  one  for  indoors. 

"The  children  liked  to  illustrate  Bible  stories  as  they 
gathered  in  the  shade.  Mother,  sitting  in  her  rocker,  would 


78  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

assign  a  little  space  in  which  they  could  fit  up  a  Garden  of 
Eden,  and  while  the  children  went  here  and  there  through 
the  yard  to  find  little  branches  for  trees  and  clover  or  other 
wild  blossoms  for  flowers,  she  could  catch  many  moments 
for  her  own  reading.  When  these  branches  and  flowers 
had  been  set  up  in  the  grass  in  the  place  assigned,  and  the 
children's  imagination  had  transformed  it  all  into  a  beautiful 
Eden,  mother  would  again  come  into  demand  to  prepare 
a  whole  menagerie  of  animals — all  cut  out  roughly  with 
scissors  from  common  newspapers,  varying  little  in  shape, 
but  easily  transformed,  by  imagination,  into  creatures  which 
the  children  took  pleasure  in  naming.  A  paper  man  and 
woman  were  last  made,  and  the  whole  story  gone  over  care- 
fully, the  children  themselves  telling  it. 

"The  story  of  David  and  Goliath  was  one  they  par- 
ticularly enjoyed — the  whole  thing  being  made  very  vivid 
by  tents  for  the  two  armies  (just  points  of  paper  with  a 
common  base,  which  could  be  grouped  in  any  desired  shape 
in  the  grass),  soldiers  galore  (paper  dolls  cut  as  our  mothers 
used  to  cut  them  with  hands  and  bodies  joined),  the  tall 
Philistine  with  his  large  spear  and  the  diminutive  David 
with  his  sling. 

''The  baby  Moses  in  the  bulrushes  furnished  a  beautiful 
lesson  of  God's  care  for  the  children.  How  interesting  to 
weave  the  little  basket  from  grasses  gathered  by  the  boys ; 
to  imagine  the  tiny  flower  placed  within  it  to  be  the  baby 
Moses ;  to  set  the  ark  among  the  imaginary  rushes,  in  an 
imaginary  river;  and  to  place  another  flower  in  hiding  to 
represent  the  devoted  sister  who  daily  watched  the  little  ark 
with  its  precious  occupant! 

"In  stormy  or  wintry  weather  the  game  may  be  played 
indoors  as  follows:  Let  two  or  three  breadths  of  carpet 
represent  the  Holy  Land,  while  two  strings  running  parallel 
form  the  Jordan  River;  drawn  apart,  these  may  represent 
the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  the  Dead  Sea.  Let  the  site  of  Jeru- 
salem be  marked  by  a  temple  made  of  building  blocks.  A 
small  rug  or  a  piece  of  cloth  will  serve  as  a  wilderness." 


THE  RELATION  OF  STORIES  TO  PLAY  79 

Here  is  the  indoor  plan. 

"Nearly  every  child  has  a  box  of  blocks,  and  from 
these  a  Noah's  Ark  can  be  constructed  while  telling  the 
story.  Then,  taking  paper  and  scissors,  fashion  paper  dolls 
of  various  sizes  to  represent  Noah's  family,  or  you  can 
purchase  the  little  wooden  images  of  men  if  you  desire. 
In  simplest  forms  cut  as  many  different  animals  as  you  have 
in  mind.  Clip  the  limbs  and  turn  the  leg  pieces  to  right 
and  left,  that  they  may  stand,  to  form  the  procession  as  they 
march  into  the  ark. 

"The  building  of  Solomon's  Temple  is  another  block 
device ;  the  picture  of  this  may  be  found  in  any  Bible  dic- 
tionary, or  you  can  procure  the  special  Temple  building 
blocks.  So,  too,  one  may  help  the  little  fingers  to  make  a 
sheepfold,  a  well,  an  Eastern  house  with  flat  roof,  the  Old 
Testament  Altar  of  Incense,  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  (with 
crochet  needles  for  the  staff  handles)  and  other  objects  of 
interest  that  will  carry  stories  with  them. 

"Childish?    Yes,  it  is  for  the  little  child." 

The  same  animals,  as  the  Sunday  School  Times  book 
points  out,  may  be  used  to  illustrate  stories  from  other  parts 
of  the  Bible.  Here  is  a  list  of  a  few  of  them.  A  little  study 
will  suggest  more  incidents  in  connection  with  the  different 
animals.  The  children  should  always  do  their  part,  by  find- 
ing the  different  animals  to  illustrate  the  story : 

A    LIST    OF    STORIES    AND    PLAYTHINGS 


Story  of   the  Ark. 


Story  of  Joseph. 


Gen.  6:14,  18-21 

"     7:13-16    ARK 

"     8:6,  7.. RAVEN 

"     8:8-12    DOVE 

Gen.  37:2-36   JOSEPH 

"     37:25    CAMELS 

"     37:31,  32 GOATS 

"     42:1-26  ASSES 

"     42 :27,  28 

"     41:2-4,  17-21,  26-31.  .CATTLE 

"     45:19-25 


80  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

fl   Sam.   16:1-12,   17:12-33. .  .DAVID 

Story   of   David -I  LION 

17:34-37    BEAR 

Story  of  Queen  of  Sheba \  1  Kings   10:1-10,   13 CAMELS 

Story  of   Rebekah J  Gen.    24:1-59 


Story  of  Shunammite  Woman,  -j  2  Kings  4 : 18-37 Ass 

,   _,..  .  Jl  Kings  17:1-24 RAVENS 

Story  of   Elijah j         „        18:17_39    BULLOCK 

Story  of  Daniel 4  Dan.  6  :l-22 LION 

Story  of  the  Shepherds -j  Luke   2  :8-20 SHEEP 

Story  of  Wise  Men -j  Matt.  2:1-14 CAMELS 

Story  of   Christ -f  Matt   21:1-11 ^.Ass 


IX 

DRAMATIZING  STORIES 

Hamlet.     What  players  be  they?  .    .    . 

Rosencrantz.  An  aerie  of  children,  little  eyasses,  that  cry  out 
on  the  top  of  question,  and  are  most  tyrannically  clapped  f or't ;  these 
are  now  the  fashion. 

Hamlet.  What!  are  they  children?  Who  maintains  them? 
Will  they  pursue  the  quality  no  longer  than  they  can  sing. 

— William  Shakespeare. 

Miss  Bailey  tells  of  a  little  girl  of  three  who  had  been 
told  by  her  nurse  the  well-known  tale  of  "The  Old  Woman 
and  Her  Pig."  A  week  later  she  was  discovered,  alone, 
standing  dramatically  in  the  center  of  the  room,  holding 
a  toy  broom  under  her  arm,  and  shaking  her  finger  at 
a  small  china  pig  that  stood  on  the  floor  in  front  of  her. 
She  was  saying  over  some  words  very  energetically. 

"What  are  you  doing?"  asked  her  surprised  mother. 

"I'm  doing  a  story,  mother,"  she  replied. 

This  instinct  to  do  a  story  is  universal,  and  it  is  very 
valuable.  It  illustrates  again  that  axiom  of  education, 
Learning  by  doing.  The  child  apprehends  and  holds  much 
better  that  which  he  acts  than  what  he  merely  hears. 

We  saw  the  earliest  expression  of  this  instinct  in  our 
chapter  on  "Stories  That  Children  Like,"  where  ringer  plays 
and  action  stories  were  the  first  kinds  of  stories  enjoyed 
by  babies.  The  baby  himself  was  the  rider  on  the  cock 
horse,  his  fingers  were  the  mice  or  the  birds  that  crept 
or  flew. 

81 


82  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


DRAMATIZING    STORIES    IN    SCHOOL 

This  method  is  being  employed  in  primary  school,  and 
where  the  teacher  selects  not  merely  what  may  be  drama- 
tized but  what  should  be  dramatized  the  result  is  very 
happy.  Julia  Darrow  Cowles  in  her  "The  Art  of  Story- 
Telling"  gives  a  story  entitled  "A  Lesson  of  Faith,"  and 
then  shows  how  naturally  and  pleasantly  one  child  after 
another  will  be  selected  to  be  the  Caterpillar,  the  Butterfly, 
the  Lark,  etc.  She  shows  the  possibility  of  correct  repre- 
sentation, which  teaches  close  observation,  when  she  re- 
minds us  that  the  child  can  learn  to  remember  that  robins 
hop  but  crows  walk.  Dr.  Arnold  Gesell  has  shown  how 
the  power  and  range  of  such  representation  in  a  primary 
room  develops: 

"Very  soon  the  class  will  not  be  content  with  one 
player.  The  boy  who  is  trying  to  represent  the  monkey 
will  suggest  that  he  have  a  hand-organ  man;  the  hen  will 
want  chickens,  and  the  scene  will  go  naturally  and  easily 
without  dictation.  It  is  interesting  to  see  how  the  children 
grow  in  power  of  representation  and  suggestion,  and  how 
naturally  language  begins  to  be  the  necessary  accompani- 
ment of  gesture.  The  language  of  the  children  will  be 
pictorial  and  full  of  unexpected  terms  and  phrases.  At 
this  stage  of  the  work  it  will  be  found  helpful  to  put  a 
screen  between  the  player  and  the  class.  Such  a  device 
adds  a  little  mystery  to  the  play.  The  effect  that  such 
work  may  have  upon  voice  culture  is  most  significant." 
The  next  step  will  be  stories  with  simple  plot.  In  perform- 
ing these  it  is  not  necessary  to  memorize,  and  it  is  undesir- 
able to  do  so.  Miss  Fry  in  her  "Educational  Dramatics" 
describes  in  a  vivid  way  how  a  story-play  evolves.  Here 
is  a  bit  of  her  monologue,  in  which  we  can  easily  imagine 
the  interruptions  of  the  children.  The  play  is  a  variant 
of  the  Cinderella  story: 

"Good !    Let's  begin  with  the  Market-Place !    And  the 


DRAMATIZING  STORIES  83 

crowd  is  there,  as  the  story  says.  What  will  the  crowd 
be  doing?  Buying  and  selling,  and  walking  about  and 
gossiping,  as  crowds  always  do  anywhere !  Yes !  We 
can  have  chairs  about,  to  be  the  shops,  and  Cicily  will  be 
in  the  crowd,  of  course,  shabby  and  shy,  because  she  is 
poor,  and  no  one  notices  her.  Oh,  no!  Not  unhappy, 
because  she  is  a  merry  creature,  even  if  she  is  poor !  Bare- 
foot ?  I  s'pose  so !  Rags  ?  Oh,  let's  plan  the  whole  story 
first  and  what  they  do,  and  then  think  about  clothes  and 
other  things,  or  we  never  shall  be  through  and  doing  it ! 

"Now  what  happens?  The  Bellman's  bell  can  sound 
outside  the  Square  just  as  in  the  story,  and  we  can  hear 
him  calling,  'Oh,  Ye's!  Oh,  Ye's!'  and  the  bell  really 
ringing.  Then  what  will  happen  ?  The  Bellman  will  march 
in,  yes !  Ringing  and  calling,  all  the  people  of  the  place 
will  come  running,  as  the  story  says.  What  a  lot  more 
fun  it  will  be  to  be  doing  it  than  just  hearing  about  it!  Oh, 
yes!  of  course  they  chatter  at  him.  The  story  does  not 
say  that,  but  any  one  would  know  it." 


STORIES    THAT   ARE    EASILY    ACTED 

Mrs.  Braucher  recommends  for  story-playing  the  fol- 
lowing stories,  some  of  which  lend  themselves  to  a  more 
permanent  form  of  acting: 

Cinderella. 

Sleeping  Beauty. 

Hansel  and  Gretel. 

Jack  and  the  Beanstalk. 

Snow  White. 

The  Elves  and  the  Shoemaker. 

Eleven  Wild  Swans. 

Red  Shoes. 

The  Cat  and  the  Parrot. 

The  Golden  Goose. 


84  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

King  Arthur  and  Excalibur. 
The  Hole  in  the  Dike. 

Mrs.  Lillian  Edith  Nixon,  in  her  "Fairy  Tales  a  Child 
Can  Read  and  Act,"  recommends  for  children  up  to  the 
second  grade  several  stories  as  suitable  for  dramatizing: 

Little  Red  Riding  Hood. 

Peter  and  the  Magic  Goose  (original). 

The  Blue  Peacock. 

The  Ant  and  the  Cricket. 

Hansel  and  Gretel. 

Stories  from  Pinocchio. 

Scenes  from  Alice  in  Wonderland. 

Scenes  from  Through  the  Looking  Glass. 

The  following  stories  are  so  arranged  as  to  bring  first 
on  the  list  those  for  young  children  and  those  that  may  be 
most  easily  dramatized  and  acted.  They  are  furnished  by 
the  Carnegie  Library  of  Pittsburg. 

Story  of  the  Three  Bears. 

The  Elves  and  the  Shoemaker. 

Epaminondas. 

Bremen  Town  Musicians. 

Cinderella. 

Why  the  Chimes  Rang. 

The  Sleeping  Beauty. 

Hansel  and  Gretel. 

Piper  Tom. 

Snow  White. 

The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin. 

How  Good  Gifts  Were  Used  by  Two. 

Gudebrand  on  the  Hillside. 

Hans  in  Luck. 

What  the  Gudeman  Does  is  Sure  to  be  Right. 

How  the  Robins  Came. 


DRAMATIZING  STORIES  85 

Persephone. 

Old  Pipes  and  the  Dryad. 

The  books  containing  the  stories  referred  to  in  the 
foregoing  list  are  named  in  a  special  monthly  bulletin  of 
the  library  for  December,  1913,  which  may  be  secured  for  5c. 

By  this  time  the  play  of  the  children  begins  to  show 
the  tendency  to  dramatize  stories.  They  make  believe  that 
they  are  horses  or  heroes,  they  use  their  dolls  as  characters 
in  free  play  of  a  story  sort,  they  make  backgrounds  and 
accessories  out  of  their  playthings.  They  even  carry  on 
the  narrative  from  day  to  day,  evolving  and  changing  the 
plot  as  they  proceed.  Instances  of  this  are  given  in  my 
"Manual  of  Play."  They  very  commonly  create  imaginary 
playmates,  and  thus  dramatize  the  actual  life  which  they 
live. 

THE   PUPPET   THEATER 

A  completer  expression  of  the  desire  to  enter  the  world 
of  imagination  and  people  it  with  tangible  personalities  will 
be  described  in  full  in  the  story  of  Mary  Lowe's  bottle 
people  in  Part  II.  Another  method  which  would  probably 
seem  a  little  more  sophisticated  than  bottle-doll  story-telling 
is  that  of  the  puppet  theater.  Nobody  knows  how  old  are 
the  marionette  theaters  of  Italy,  which  are  attended  still 
by  old  and  young.  We  cannot  trace  back  the  origin  of 
the  Punch  and  Judy  show,  which  represents  an  art  well 
worth  perpetuating  but  almost  lost  to  us.  Thirty  years 
ago  somebody  put  on  the  market  a  "Little  Theater,"  with 
its  proscenium,  its  drop  curtain,  wings,  scenes  and  actors, 
furnished  with  play-sketches  and  adaptable  to  an  infinite 
variety  of  original  dramas.  To  an  experienced  bottle-doll 
artist  such  a  miniature  theater  with  its  actors  would  be 
an  easy  task,  and  the  suggestion  of  mystery  in  the  curtain, 
the  dramatic  suspense  occasioned  by  waiting  for  changes 
of  scene  and  the  opportunity  for  assuming  the  voices  of 


86  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

several  characters  are  tempting  to  a  young  Thespian.  One 
may  wonder  why  adult  story-tellers  do  not  revive  in  some 
form  the  puppet  theater  as  an  adjunct  to  some  of  their 
more  dramatic  tales. 


CHILDREN'S    DRAMATICS 

"Dressing  up,"  pantomimes,  "statues,"  dumb  crambo, 
charades,  are  familiar  expressions  among  children  from 
eight  to  twelve  of  the  dramatic  instinct  to  do  a  story.  Miss 
Perry  suggests  groups  of  plays,  each  one  acted  by  one 
child  only,  which  she  names  "Garlands."  For  instance, 
when  grandmother  comes  to  make  a  visit,  she  may  be  wel- 
comed with  a  garland  of  greetings.  Each  child  represents 
something  that  is  glad  to  welcome  grandma,  and  all  encircle 
her  as  they  do  so.  One  is  a  chicken,  and  struts  and 
flutters,  and  one  is  a  flower  and  spreads  her  skirts  and 
acts  like  a  flower.  Miss  Patten  suggests  that  older  children 
should  enhance  the  family  reunions  by  acting  together  the 
family  history.  One  boy  brings  down  his  grandfather's 
uniform  and  enacts  his  military  record,  or  all  dress  in  their 
parents'  wedding  garments  and  impersonate  their  marriage 
ceremony,  or  re-enact  in  a  good-natured  way  some  of  the 
family  jokes. 

Of  amateur  theatricals,  which  are  of  course  the  most 
elaborate  way  of  dramatizing  stories,  there  is  no  need  to 
speak. 

A  list  of  story-plays  for  children  and  of  books  on 
dramatics  is  given  in  Appendix  IV. 


THE  STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING: 
IMAGINATIVE  STORIES 


HOW   TO    GRADE    SUCH    STORIES 

One  mistake  that  is  made  by  those  who  plot  out  charts 
for  the  moral  training  of  children  is  that  of  assigning  certain 
virtues  to  definite  years.  In  a  certain  chart,  for  example, 
obedience  may  be  dated  as  appropriate  to  the  fourth  year, 
when,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  a  virtue  necessary  for 
self-protection  up  to  the  age  when  the  child  matures  to 
the  virtue  of  self-obedience.  Loyalty  has  so  many  phases 
that  it  would  be  an  untruth  to  place  it  at  any  one  era  of 
the  child's  life.  The  fact  is  that  nearly  all  virtues  are 
various  phases  of  goodness  appearing  in  deeper  and  finer 
manifestations  as  the  years  come  on,  and  the  endeavor 
should  be  not  so  much  to  grade  the  virtues  as  to  grade  the 
literary  types  of  stories  which  appeal  to  the  children  of 
different  ages. 

From  what  we  know  of  child  nature,  stories,  as  to 
their  literary  character,  should  be  presented  in  the  following 
order : 

Stories  with  a  sense  appeal, 
Imaginative  stories, 
Fairy  tales 
Fables 

Myths  and  legends 
Parables  and  allegories 
Realistic  stories, 

87 


88  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Biographical  stories, 
Romantic  stories. 

It  has  been  thought  helpful  to  present  a  good  type- 
story  or  two  under  each  of  these  varieties,  selected  for 
its  excellence  of  construction  and  arrangement  as  well  as 
its  moral  forcefulness. 


STORIES   WITH    A    SENSE   APPEAL 

Some  may  doubt  that  finger  plays  and  nursery  rhymes 
have  any  moral  meaning.  They  recognize  that  the  finger 
plays  help  coordinate  the  muscles  and  that  the  nursery 
rhymes  encourage  joy  and  fellowship  between  the  mother 
and  the  child.  But  we  think  they  do  more.  Most  of  the 
finger  plays  at  the  very  least  suggest  that  this  is  a  world 
in  which  even  little  hands  may  be  lovingly  helpful.  In- 
stance this  one: 

Monday 

Here's  a  little  wash-bench   (fingers  make  the  bench), 

Here's  a  little  tub  (fingers  make  the  tub), 
Here's  a  little  scrubbing-board  (fingers  made  the  scrubbing-board) 

And  here's  the  way  to  scrub    (fingers  start  to  rub). 
Here's  a  little  cake  of  soap   (with  the  closed  fist), 

Here's  a  dipper  new  (fist  with  bent  finger  for  handle). 
Here's    a    basket    wide    and    deep    (both    arms    down    and    fingers 
touching). 

And  here  are  clothespins  two  (two  pairs  of  fingers  for  the  prongs). 
Here's   the   line   away  up  high    (pointing), 

Here's  the  clothes  all  flying  (flopping  hands). 
Here's  the  sun  so  warm  and  bright  (round  space  between  hands), 

And  now  the   washing's  drying. 

And  so  the  nursery  rhymes,  and  especially  the  nursery 
songs,  have  their  little  lessons  of  kindness  and  gentleness 
and  cheerfulness.  You  will  at  once  think  of,  "I  love  pretty 
Pussy,"  "Tom  Tom  was  a  piper's  son;  he  learned  to  play 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING  :  IMAGINATIVE  STORIES    89 

when  he  was  young,"  "This  is  the  Mother  so  kind  and 
dear,"  etc.,  etc. 

No  one,  in  the  special  field  of  child-sympathy  with 
animals,  has  recently  written  with  sweeter  purpose  and 
simplicity  than  A.  L.  Sykes  (Mrs.  Stephani  Schutze),  whose 
"Tiny  Hare  and  His  Friends,"  published  by  Little,  Brown 
&  Co.,  Boston,  ought  to  be  known  by  all  mothers  of  little 
children.  Here  is  a  story  of  hers,  called,  "The  Wee  Hare 
and  the  Red  Fire."  It  is  full  of  sense  appeals,  of  color, 
cold  and  warmth,  light  and  darkness. 

One  day  in  the  cold  time  when  he  lay  snug  and  warm 
by  his  Mama,  Tiny  Hare  said :  "Tell  me  of  the  hare  who 
went  step,  step,  step  in  the  snow  till  he  came  to  the  RED 
FIRE."  So  his  Mama  gave  him  a  hug  and  said : 

Once  upon  a  time  was  a  wise  Wee  Hare  who  knew 
how  to  run  fast  when  MAN  came  by.  He  knew  how  to 
hide  when  DOG  was  near,  and  when  he  saw  the  dark 
spot  in  the  sky  that  HAWK  made,  how  fast  he  did  jump 
to  his  Mama!  But  Wee  Hare  did  not  like  to  go  out  and 
run  and  jump  and  play  in  the  sun. 

"I  do  not  want  to  run  and  jump  and  play  in  the  sun. 
I  want  to  run  far,  far  in  the  wood,  and  find  the  red  bush. 
I  have  seen  it  away  off  in  the  dark.  It  is  good  for  me  to 
eat,  I  know." 

"It  is  FIRE,"  said  his  Mama.  "Only  MAN  can 
make  it,  and  it  is  not  good  for  you.  It  can  burn  and  hurt. 
You  may  eat  the  good  food  that  you  can  find  near  our 
home,"  and  she  bit  his  ear  for  a  kiss. 

"I  do  not  want  to  eat  the  good  food  that  I  can  see 
here.  I  want  to  do  just  as  I  like.  I  want  to  pick  the  red 
food  from  the  red  bush.  I  know  it  is  like  buds  in  the 
warm  time." 

"Hush!"  said  Papa  Hare,  very  low  and  deep.  "You 
are  not  good.  When  you  are  good,  and  the  moon  is  high 
in  the  sky,  and  it  is  just  like  day,  I  will  take  you  far  out 
in  the  wood,  and  you  may  run  and  jump  and  play  and 
eat  the  food  that  is  best  for  you." 


90  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

"I  do  not  want  to  go  out  in  the  wood,  and  run  and 
jump  and  play  when  the  moon  is  high  in  the  sky.  I  want 
to  do  just  as  I  like.  I  want  to  eat  the  red  buds  from  the 
red  bush,"  said  the  Wee  Hare. 

"Shut  your  eyes,  and  put  your  ears  down,  and  take 
your  nap,"  said  his  Mama.  ''You  are  too  tiny  to  go 
away  from  me.  Now,  hush,  do  not  say  one  more  word. 
The  red  bush  is  the  RED  FIRE.  It  can  hurt  and  burn. 
MAN  has  it,  and  DOG  is  with  man.  They  can  hurt  you, 
and  if  you  run  too  far  in  the  wood,  WIND  may  blow 
too  hard  for  a  wee  hare,  and  SNOW  may  come  and  bury 
you.  Shut  your  eyes,  and  put  your  ears  down  and  take 
your  nap." 

It  was  noon;  the  sun  was  high  in  the  sky. 

Good  Papa  Hare  took  his  nap,  and  Mama  Hare  took 
her  nap.  The  Wee  Hare  shut  his  eyes,  and  put  his  ears 
down,  but  he  took  no  nap.  By  and  by  he  went  out  of 
the  door,  and  ran  and  ran  till  he  came  to  the  wood.  Then 
he  ran  and  ran  in  the  wood,  but  he  did  not  come  to  the 
RED  FIRE,  and  he  ran  and  ran  and  ran  till  his  feet  were 
sore,  but  he  did  not  come  to  the  RED  FIRE,  and  he  ran 
and  ran  and  ran  and  ran  till  he  was  not  able  to  run  any 
more  and  no  RED  FIRE  did  he  see.  He  lay  down  to 
rest  in  a  bush,  and  very  soon  his  eyes  shut,  and  he  did 
not  see  or  hear,  for  it  was  long  past  the  hour  for  his  nap. 
When  he  woke  SNOW  lay  on  all  the  open  ways  of  the 
wood.  The  Wee  Hare  gave  a  leap  from  his  bush,  for  he 
knew  that  SNOW  can  grow  deep  and  deep,  and  a  wee 
hare  cannot  walk  in  it.  How  he  did  wish  he  was  at  home ! 

The  sun  was  far  down  in  the  west,  and  its  last  rays 
lay  red  on  the  SNOW.  Step,  step,  step  went  the  lame 
Wee  Hare  in  the  cold  SNOW.  He  went  back  into  the 
woods  to  try  to  find  his  way  home.  It  grew  gray,  and 
it  grew  dark,  and  SNOW  grew  so  deep  that  Wee  Hare 
had  hard  work  to  walk.  Then  WIND  came!  Step,  step, 
step  in  the  SNOW  he  went.  The  WIND  blew  more  and 
more. 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING  :  IMAGINATIVE  STORIES    91 

"I  cannot  walk ;  my  feet  are  too  lame,"  said  the  Wee 
Hare,  and  just  then  he  saw  the  RED  FIRE.  It  grew  in 
the  path  in  the  wood,  and  by  it  sat  MAN  and  DOG.  Oh, 
how  the  Wee  Hare  felt!  His  nose  grew  hot,  and  ears 
grew  cold,  and  he  was  not  able  to  move.  Then  DOG  said : 
''WOW!"  and  put  fiis  ears  up,  but  MAN  said:  "Lie 
down,"  and  DOG  lay  down  by  the  RED  FIRE.  The  Wee 
Hare  went  into  a  tiny,  tiny  hole  in  a  tree,  and  sat  on  his 
feet  to  warm  them.  He  saw  the  RED  FIRE.  He  did 
not  like  to  see  it.  MAN  and  DOG  did  not  let  it  come 
too  near  them,  and  he  saw  them  keep  away  from  the 
RED  FIRE. 

''They  fear  it,  too,"  said  the  Wee  Hare.  "It  is  not 
good  for  me.  I  must  take  care  or  it  will  come  and  hurt 
me."  He  sat  on  his  cold  feet,  and  did  not  dare  to  take 
a  nap. 

By  and  by  MAN  put  SNOW  over  the  RED  FIRE, 
and  he  and  DOG  went  away,  and  the  Wee  Hare  went  step, 
step,  step  in  the  snow,  soft,  soft,  soft,. for  fear. 

"I  wish  I  had  been  good,"  said  the  Wee  Hare,  and  WIND 
and  SNOW  were  able  to  hear,  and  they  felt  sad  for  the 
Wee  Hare. 

"We  will  help  him,"  they  said,  but  low  and  soft  so 
he  did  not  hear.  The  moon  came  up  high  in  the  sky  till 
it  was  just  like  day,  and  it  grew  very  cold.  SNOW  grew 
hard  as  ice  in  the  cold,  and  the  Wee  Hare  did  not  sink 
in  it  any  more.  WIND  did  not  blow  so  hard.  It  came 
back  of  Wee  Hare  now,  push,  push,  push,  to  help  the 
Wee  Hare  over  the  SNOW.  How  fast  he  went — hop, 
skip  and  jump!  Soon  he  came  to  his  home.  How  glad 
he  was !  He  went  in  and  lay  down  by  his  Mama. 

"I  have  not  been  good,  Mama,"  he  said,  very  low  in 
her  ear. 

"Be  good  now,  then,"  his  Mama  said,  and  he  did  not 
know  how  glad  she  was  to  have  him  back. 

"I  want  to  be  good,"  said  the  Wee  Hare;  and  he 


92  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

shut  his  eyes,  and  put  his  ears  down,  and  they  all  took 
a  nap  till  the  dawn  came. 

"Just  like  us,"  said  Tiny  Hare,  and  he  was  glad  that 
he  lay  snug  and  warm  by  his  Mama,  and  he  was  glad  she 
had  told  him  the  tale  of  the  Wee  Hare  and  the  RED  FIRE. 


FAIRY    STORIES 

It  is  not  necessary  for  the  success  of  a  fairy  story 
as  an  aid  in  character-building  that  the  incidents  should 
be  distant  and  improbable.  Indeed  if  they  be  taken  from 
the  daily  life  of  the  child,  and  the  only  imaginative  element 
be  the  good  fairy  herself,  we  have  sometimes  a  model  story 
for  a  purpose.  Such  an  one  is  "The  Fairy  Who  Came 
to  Our  House,"  meant  to  help  make  a  very  helpful  little 
girl.  The  charming  surprise  at  the  close  makes  the  story 
all  the  more  memorable. 


THE  FAIRY  WHO   CAME  TO   OUR   HOUSE 

There  was  once  a  dear  little  girl  who  lived  in  our 
house.  She  was  quite  loving  and  sweet  and  truthful.  She 
would  have  been  a  dear,  dear  little  girl,  but  for  one  thing — 
she  was  a  wee  bit  careless.  It  was  just  about  little  things, 
you  know.  Perhaps  it  might  be  drying  the  cups  until 
they  shone.  Perhaps  it  might  be  dusting  the  undermost 
places,  like  the  rungs  of  the  chairs  and  the  piano  legs. 
Perhaps  it  might  be  giving  fresh  milk  to  Taffy,  the  black 
pussy-cat.  Perhaps  it  might  be  leaving  the  old  rag  doll 
out  in  the  weather  all  night.  The  old  rag  doll  had  rheu- 
matism, and  a  night  out  in  the  dew  made  it  worse.  A  dear, 
dear  little  girl  would  have  remembered  these  things,  but 
our  dear  little  girl  forgot. 

One  morning  she  woke  very  early,  but  the  sun  was 
behind  a  cloud,  and  the  fog  crept  into  the  nursery.  She 
began  to  forget  things  before  breakfast. 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING  :  IMAGINATIVE  STORIES    93 

"Oh,  where  is  my  red  hair  ribbon?"  she  said.  "And 
where  is  my  shoe  string?" 

After  breakfast  she  wanted  to  make  a  little  saucer  pie 
with  mother,  in  the  kitchen.  Just  as  she  put  it  in  the 
oven  she  thought  of  her  unmade  bed  upstairs.  Before  she 
had  half  finished  the  bed  she  remembered  that  grandmother 
was  waiting  to  have  her  spectacles  found.  Then  the  door 
bell  rang,  and  she  just  had  to  run  and  see  who  it  was.  It 
was  just  a  short  way  to  the  end  of  the  garden ;  she  really 
had  to  run  to  the  gate  and  see  if  next-door  Helen  were  at 
home. 

Ah,  the  broken  shoe  string  was  in  the  way !  The  dear 
little  girl  tumbled  down  in  the  garden  path  and  bumped 
her  poor  little  nose.  And  the  saucer  pie  burned  black  in 
the  oven,  the  bed  was  not  made,  and  grandmother  had  no 
spectacles. 

As  she  sat  up  in  the  garden  path,  crying  two  big  tears, 
who  should  she  see  on  the  stone  beside  her  (there  had  been 
no  one  there  before)  but  a  tiny  old  woman.  I  think  she 
was  just  three  inches  high,  and  she  wore  a  long  red  cloak 
and  a  little  red  hood,  and  she  carried  a  crooked  little  cane. 
Her  face  Was  as  brown  and  wrinkled  as  a  last  fall's  oak- 
leaf.  She  rapped  on  the  stone  with  her  cane,  as  she  said: 
"What  are  you  crying  about,  little  girl?" 

"Oh,"  sobbed  the  dear  little  girl,  "I  want  to  not  forget 
so  many  things." 

"Run  right  into  the  house,"  said  the  fairy — for  she 
was  a  fairy.  "I  am  going  to  help  you  all  day  long." 

The  dear  little  girl  rubbed  her  eyes.  There  was  no 
fairy  upon  the  stone — only  two  wee  footprints — so  she 
jumped  up  and  ran  into  the  house. 

The  first  thing  she  spied  was  a  pair  of  shiny  spectacles 
under  the  hall  rack.  Grandmother  was  so  pleased  to  have 
them.  As  the  little  girl  came  down  stairs  again  she  heard 
a  squeaky  laugh.  There  was  a  red  cloak  on  the  staircase 
and  some  one  said: 


94  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

"Hurry,  hurry,  kitchen  trouble, 
Kettle  wants  to  boil  and  bubble." 

So  the  little  girl  ran  down  to  the  kitchen  and  filled  the 
old  copper  tea  kettle,  who  sat  fussing  upon  the  stove, 
because  he  was  empty.  As  she  put  on  the  cover,  whom 
should  she  see  standing  upon  the  spout  but  the  little  figure 
in  a  red  cloak,  and  this  is  what  she  heard: 

"Run  and  set  the  plates  for  lunch, 
Knives  and  forks  are  in  a  bunch." 

Yes,  the  table  did  need  setting.  When  it  was  all  done, 
there  was  the  fairy  on  the  sideboard,  twirling  around 
like  a  Japanese  top  and  saying : 

"Dolly's    things   are   such    a   sight ! 
Put  the  bureau  drawers  to  right." 

So  the  little  girl  flew  up  stairs  to  the  nursery.  She 
packed  the  doll's  dresses  in  the  trunk.  She  folded  all  the 
hair  ribbons  in  the  top  drawer,  and  there  was  the  lost  red 
one  at  the  very  bottom. 

All  day  long,  the  fairy  kept  reminding  her  of  things 
to  do.  After  lunch  there  she  was  sitting  on  the  edge  of 
mother's  darning  basket,  looking  like  a  red  Dutch  cheese, 
and  saying: 

"Holes  to  be  mended,  and  darning  begun ; 
Find    mother's    needles    and   pins,    every   one." 

Toward  evening  there  she  was  on  the  arm  of  father's 
easy-chair,  saying: 

"Father  is  coming.     Now,  quick  as  can  be, 
Lay  out  his  slippers  and  book  before  tea." 

The  little  girl  was  very  tired  by  bedtime,  but  it  had 
been  a  busy,  happy  day.  She  sat  in  her  little  chair  by 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING  :  IMAGINATIVE  STORIES     95 

the  nursery  fire,  and  rocked,  and  wondered  if  it  could  all 
have  been  a  dream;  when — pop — there  was  the  little  old 
woman  in  the  red  cloak,  dancing  upon  a  red  coal,  and 
saying : 

"Look  in  the  box  on  the  bureau,  my  dear; 
And  try  to  remember  as  long  as  a  year." 

So  the  dear  little  girl  looked  in  the  box  on  the  bureau, 
and  there,  inside,  was  a  little  gold  wishing-ring,  and  it  said 
on  the  bow :  "From  all  the  family  in  our  house,  for  a  dear, 
dear  little  girl  who  tried  to  remember." 

And  the  queer  little  fairy  never  came  again;  but  that 
was  because  she  didn't  need  to. 

If  the  purposive  story  is  to  be  very  helpful,  it  must, 
of  course,  be  remembered.  There  are  one  or  two  devices 
by  which  a  story  may  be  made  memorable.  One  of  these 
is  the  device  of  repetition,  using  a  special  phrase  several 
times  in  a  narrative.  Another  common  device  is  that  of 
arranging  that  there  shall  be  three  incidents  before  the 
denouement.  Both  these  devices  are  implied  in  the  familiar 
story  of  the  three  bears,  in  which  the  phrases  "Who's  been 
eating  of  my  porridge?",  "Who's  been  sitting  in  my 
chair?",  etc.,  bringing  forth  replies  in  three  tones  of  voice 
from  the  three  bears  and  in  which  each  of  the  bears  engages 
in  three  experiments  before  they  finally  discover  the  little 
girl.  The  following  story  of  "Little  Blue  Gown  and  the 
Butterfly,"  adapted  from  a  set  of  rhymes  that  appeared 
once  in  St.  Nicholas,  also  illustrates  the  employment  of 
both  of  these  devices.  Everything  in  the  story  is  "little" 
and  "blue,"  and  that  favorite  color  runs  like  a  motif  through 
the  narrative.  Blue  Gown  also  has  three  sad  adventures 
before  she  finally  comes  to  the  happy  one. 

LITTLE  BLUE  GOWN   AND  THE  BUTTERFLY 

In  a  dear  little  house  with  a  little  blue  gate  at  the 
foot  of  a  grassy  meadow  there  once  lived  a  nice  little 


96  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

girl.  She  was  called  Little  Blue  Gown,  because  the  only 
frock  she  had  to  wear,  week  days  and  Sundays,  was  a  little 
old  gown  of  blue.  It  was  very  ragged,  because  she  had 
worn  it  so  long,  and  although  she  had  mended  it  as  best 
she  could,  still  it  did  not  look  very  nice.  She  lived  all 
alone,  except  for  a  little  old  cat,  and  sometimes  she  was 
very  lonely;  but  she  used  to  say,  "I  mustn't  mind  that." 

One  day  the  little  blue  gown  girl  heard  a  knock  at  the 
door  which  frightened  her  very  much,  because  nobody  ever 
came  to  her  house.  On  the  floor  she  found  a  little  blue 
letter  which  said:  "Dear  Little  What's- Your-Name ;  I 
know  how  good  you  are,  for  I  come  and  watch  you  every 
morning  and  night,  and  I  have  got  a  beautiful  new  frock 
for  you  with  a  sash  to  tie  around  it,  only  you  have  got 
to  go  with  me  and  find  it.  Whatever  happens,  don't  lose 
heart,  and  I  will  promise  to  help  you  and  bring  you  safely 
back.  Follow  my  small  blue  messenger  boy  wherever  you 
see  him.  Wishing  you  great  joy,  Yours  ever,  The  Fairy 
Queen." 

You  can  imagine  how  delighted  Little  Blue  Gown  was 
when  she  finished  this  charming  letter.  She  clapped  her 
hands  and  danced  up  and  down.  Then  she  washed  up  her 
little  plate  and  cup,  tidied  up  her  little  room  and  brushed 
up  the  fireplace,  and  then  ran  out-doors  and  looked  around. 
She  couldn't  spy  any  messenger  anywhere,  but  on  the 
flowers  at  the  gate  was  a  small  blue  butterfly.  So  she 
went  out  through  the  garden  gate,  saying  to  herself,  "I 
don't  know  where  to  go,  but  I  will  go  on.  I  shall  find 
him  soon,  I  am  sure." 

So  she  went  right  on  and  on  until  she  came  to  the 
mill.  On  the  steps  of  the  mill  was  the  miller's  boy,  named 
Will.  She  said,  "Have  you  happened  to  see  a  fairy  mes- 
senger pass  ?  He  has  a  pretty  new  frock  for  me." 

But  Will  said,  "You  silly  goose!  Here  is  the  only 
frock  you'll  get,"  and  he  threw  a  flour  sack  down  on  her 
shoulders.  She  was  covered  from  head  to  foot  with  flour, 
and  Will  burst  into  a  loud  laugh,  and  jeered  with  all  his 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING  :  IMAGINATIVE  STORIES  97 

might.  "That  is  as  pretty  a  new  frock  as  ever  I  saw," 
he  said. 

Then  Little  Blue  Gown  turned  sadly  away.  There  was 
nobody  to  guide  her  and  she  did  not  notice  the  butterfly, 
although  it  kept  close  to  her.  So  she  went  on  and  on  until 
she  came  to  the  house  of  the  chimney  sweep.  The  chimney 
sweep  boy,  Mark,  was  at  the  window  looking  out.  She 
said,  "Have  you  seen  a  fairy  messenger  in  blue  go  by? 
He  has  got  a  pretty  new  frock  for  me."  But  he  cried, 
"Here  is  a  fine  new  suit  for  you,"  and  he  threw  a  sooty 
sack  down  on  her  shoulders.  So  now  she  was  all  black 
from  head  to  foot,  and  Mark  said,  "How  do  you  like  the 
soot?"  Then  Little  Blue  Gown  again  went  her  way,  trying 
to  smile,  and  she  never  noticed  all  the  time  that  the  butterfly 
was  above  her. 

So  she  went  straight  on  and  on,  and  by  and  by  she 
came  to  the  Four-Winds-Cross-Roads.  Wasn't  that  a  funny 
name  for  a  place?  She  sat  down  by  the  guide  post  and 
cried,  because  she  did  not  know  which  way  to  go.  Down 
the  North  Road,  blue  speedwell  grew ;  down  the  East  Road 
grew  bluebells;  on  the  South  Road,  blue  succory,  but  in 
the  West  Road  nothing  grew.  At  least,  there  was  only  a 
little  tiny  brook.  So  Little  Blue  Gown  sat  there  crying, 
for  she  was  speckled  with  soot  and  mottled  with  flour  and 
covered  with  dust.  Finally  she  said,  "I  must  stay  here 
for  a  half  hour.  I  must  get  clean — I  must.  What  would 
the  fairy  queen  say  if  she  saw  me  now?"  She  took  off 
her  frock  and  washed  it  in  the  brook.  It  took  a  long,  long 
time.  Then  she  hung  it  up  in  a  sunny  place  on  a  leafy 
bough.  She  washed  her  hands  and  face  and  said,  "Now 
I  feel  better." 

She  had  thought  that  no  flowers  grew  along  the  West 
Road,  but  now  she  saw  a  lot  of  them.  There  were  masses 
of  blue  along  the  brook  and  they  were  all  forget-me-nots, 
and  down  among  the  forget-me-nots,  now  flying  high  and 
now  low,  was  a  little  blue  butterfly,  just  as  blue  as  the 
blossoms  were. 


98  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

She  was  just  putting  on  her  frock  again  when  she 
saw  a  boy,  a  Gypsy  boy,  in  a  ragged  coat  of  blue.  She 
cried  out,  "Oh,  oh,  are  you  the  messenger  of  the  fairy 
queen?"  He  answered,  "I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by 
that.  I  am  just  trying  to  catch  this  butterfly,  and  it  has 
led  me  such  a  chase."  Pretty  soon  he  caught  it,  and 
would  have  killed  it  had  not  Little  Blue  Gown  cried,  "Oh, 
what  a  pity!  Don't  hurt  it!  Give  it  to  me."  "Give  me 
your  blue  necklace,"  said  the  boy,  "and  I'll  give  you  the 
butterfly." 

Now  these  blue  beads  were  the  only  treasure  that 
Little  Blue  Gown  ever  had,  but  she  said,  although  it  made 
her  very  sad,  "Yes,  I'll  give  you  my  necklace  with  pleasure 
if  you  give  me  the  butterfly."  So  she  took  it  off  and  the 
Gypsy  lad  ran  away  with  the  blue  beads.  But  the  little 
blue  girl  felt  very  happy  with  the  butterfly  on  her  hand. 

All  at  once  the  butterfly  rose  up  bigger  and  bigger,  and 
by  and  by  he  said  to  her,  "Mount  and  ride  me.  I  am  the 
fairy  messenger.  I  have  been  all  the  time  close  beside 
you !"  So  she  climbed  on  his  back  and  rode  away  and 
away,  over  hills  and  fields.  When  they  went  high  and 
she  became  dizzy  she  held  all  the  tighter  and  shut  her  eyes 
for  fear  she  might  drop.  By  and  by  they  came  to  her 
own  little  door.  Had  the  messenger  made  a  mistake?  But 
no.  Little  Blue  Gown  went  in  and  her  poor  little  room 
was  filled  with  the  prettiest  things.  There  were  chairs  and 
curtains  and  carpets,  all  of  blue,  and  little  blue  plates  and 
cups,  and  blue  flowers  in  pots  and  blue  tiles  in  the  walls, 
her  bed  was  as  blue  as  forget-me-nots,  and  hanging  from 
a  chair  was  the  very  loveliest  frock  of  blue  that  you 
ever  saw. 

The  butterfly  said,  "They  are  all  for  you.  They  were 
sent  by  the  fairy  queen."  And  now  Little  Blue  Gown  was 
indeed  surprised.  The  butterfly  had  turned  into  a  fairy 
boy,  ever  so  pretty  and  slim,  and  he  said,  "I  hope  you 
are  pleased !"  and  he  seized  both  her  hands  in  his  and 
merrily  they  danced  around. 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING  :  IMAGINATIVE  STORIES    99 

So  Little  Blue  Gown  will  never  be  lonely  any  more. 
She  has  fairy  food  to  eat,  fairy  flowers  in  front  of  her 
little  door,  and  fairy  furniture  in  her  house,  and  the  butter- 
fly boy  comes  and  brings  her  presents,  and  sometimes 
gives  her  rides  on  his  wings.  Sometimes  he  stops  to  tea. 

MYTHS    AND    LEGENDS 

In  a  certain  sense,  mythical  heroes  are  almost  truer 
than  life  itself,  that  is,  they  have  gathered  in  the  course  of 
the  years  so  much  of  concreteness  and  definiteness  that 
they  represent  more  distinctly  certain  types  of  character 
than  any  actual  individual,  living  or  dead.  They  are  also 
skilfully  simple.  That  has  been  done  with  them  which  we 
shall  find  has  to  be  done  with  a  real  biography  in  order 
to  make  it  morally  effective:  only  so  much  is  told  as  is 
necessary  to  make  one  particular  moral  impression. 

Of  all  legends  none  have  been  greater  favorites 
with  or  more  helpful  to  young  people  than  those  of  King 
Arthur.  Each  of  the  Round  Table  Knights  represents  in 
his  ideals  and  adventures  a  separate  type  of  character,  the 
King  himself  is  Conscience,  and  the  whole  cycle  is  closely 
parallel  in  spirit  to  the  chivalrous,  generous  desires  of  boys 
and  girls.  As  a  continued  story,  to  be  told  in  chapters  and 
with  somewhat  of  the  leisureliness  and  largeness  of  Malory, 
it  is  matchless.  It  takes  a  good  deal  of  it  to  build  up  a 
total  moral  impression.  We  have  selected  a  single  incident, 
however,  somewhat  unfamiliar,  which  deserves  to  stand 
alone.  It  has  been  somewhat  rewritten,  in  the  interest  of 
better  construction  and  directness. 


THE   KNIGHT  WITH  THE  ILL-FITTING  COAT 

Once  when  King  Arthur  was  sitting  at  court  a  tall, 
sturdy  youth  made  his  appearance  and  asked  for  an 
audience. 


100  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

"I  have  come,"  he  said,  "to  be  made  a  knight.  My 
name  is  Breunor,  and  my  father  was  a  noble  lord,  so  you 
will  do  right  to  grant  me  this  favor." 

"Be  that  as  it  may,"  said  the  king,  "but  I  must  know 
more  of  you  before  I  make  you  a  knight.  Why  wear  you 
this  great  coat  of  gold  cloth?"  he  inquired,  for  over  his 
shoulders  the  youth  had  a  richly  embroidered  coat  of  cloth 
of  gold,  which  was  too  large  for  him  and  which  hung 
awkwardly  from  his  shoulders. 

"This  is  the  coat  of  my  father.  One  day  he  was  slain 
treacherously  while  he  was  asleep,  and  I  have  sworn  to 
wear  this  cloak,  with  these  sword  strokes  upon  it,  until 
I  have  revenged  his  foul  death.  Now,  O  King,  I  pray  you 
again,  make  me  a  knight,  so  that  I  may  go  forth  on  my 
life-quest." 

Some  of  the  older  knights  then  made  entreaty  for  the 
young  man,  and  at  length  the  king  promised  to  make  him 
a  knight  the  following  day.  Breunor  was  then  sent  to 
/Kay  the  Seneschal,  the  sharp-tongued  knight  who  had  all 
the  young  squires  in  charge.  When  he  saw  the  lad,  at 
once  he  began  to  laugh  at  him  in  the  presence  of  the  other 
youths  and  promptly  nicknamed  him  "Sir  La  Cote  Male 
Taile,"  or  "Sir  Ill-Fitting  Coat." 

The  next  morning  while  the  king  and  his  knights  were 
at  the  hunt  and  the  fair  ladies  of  the  court  were  walking 
on  the  terrace,  a  large  lion  that  had  been  kept  in  a  tower 
at  one  end  of  the  plaisaunce  broke  loose  and  began  leaping 
across  the  terrace.  The  queen  and  her  ladies  fled  in  the 
wildest  haste.  Then  a  tall  youth  sprang  out  from  the 
company  of  squires  that  were  seated  by  the  wall,  with 
sword  in  hand,  and  cleft  the  beast's  head  at  a  single  blow. 

When  the  king  returned  he  gave  Breunor,  for  it  was 
he,  high  praise  for  his  quickness  and  courage.  "As  I  am 
king,"  he  said,  "you  shall  prove  a  most  noble  and  valiant 
knight,  and  one  of  the  most  worthy  to  sit  with  me  at  the 
Table  Round."  Then  he  commanded  him  to  kneel,  and 
dubbed  him  knight  and  called  him  Sir  Breunor. 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING: .IMAGINATIVE  STORIES  101 

"Nay,  an  it  please  you,"  said  the  young  man,  "I  will 
be  known  by  no  other  name  than  that  of  'La  Cote  Male 
Taile/  by  which  Sir  Kay  hath  christened  me,  that  my  quest 
may  ever  be  in  my  mind."  To  this  the  king  and  his 
knights  agreed,  and  he  was  so  called  among  them. 

That  very  day  a  damsel  rode  into  the  court,  bearing 
with  her  a  huge  black  shield,  on  one  side  of  which  was 
painted  a  mailed  hand  holding  a  sword.  Its  owner  had 
been  worsted  by  a  still  mightier  knight,  she  said,  and  he 
had  committed  his  shield  to  her  that  she  might  find  a 
champion  who  should  fulfil  his  quest.  As  the  knights 
thought  of  the  strength  and  valor  of  -one  who  could  carry 
a  shield  greater  than  this  one,  there  was  a  silence.  Then 
La  Cote  Male  Taile  strode  forward  and  claimed  his  right, 
as  the  latest  made  knight,  to  ride  forth  upon  this  quest. 
She  warned  him  that  this  would  be  no  light  summer  day's 
adventure.  "Then  it  is  all  the  more  to  my  liking,"  he 
replied. 

The  two  had  not  gone  far  on  their  journey  when  they 
saw  Dagonet,  the  king's  jester,  speeding  hard  after  them 
on  the  back  of  a  donkey.  He  bore  in  his  hands  a  lath. 
La  Cote  Male  Taile  understood  at  once  that  this  was  a 
piece  of  Sir  Kay's  doings,  to  make  him  ridiculous  in  the 
damsel's  eyes.  So  he  smote  the  fool  lightly  with  his  palm 
and  sent  him  headlong  over  the  donkey's  neck.  But  the 
damsel  laughed  at  him  for  jousting  with  a  fool,  and  told 
him  he  would  be  ashamed  when  Dagonet  told  the  story 
at  the  court.  To  this  he  made  no  reply. 

Thrice  that  day  knights  from  the  court  met  him  and 
jousted  with  him.  He  entreated  each  of  them  to  engage 
with  him  in  sword  play  on  foot,  since  he  had  not  yet  learned 
to  handle  himself  on  a  horse.  But  they  all  declined,  and 
he  was  thrown  by  each  of  them  in  turn.  These  mishaps 
caused  the  damsel  to  laugh  at  him  more  than  ever,  and 
when  Sir  Modred>  the  king's  nephew,  joined  them,  she  rode 
by  his  side  and  quite  ignored  the  young  Cote  Male  Taile. 

By  and  by  they  came  to  a  famous  stronghold  known 


102  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

as  Castle  Orgulous.  As  they  approached,  two  knights 
dashed  across  the  drawbridge  against  them,  with  their 
lances  couched.  The  one  who  met  Sir  Modred  smote  him 
off  the  bridge  and  into  the  moat.  The  other  unhorsed  La 
Cote  Male  Taile,  but,  guarding  himself  as  he  fell,  he  jumped 
upon  the  steed  of  Sir  Modred  and  pursued  his  enemy  into 
the  castle  itself,  and  there  slew  him. 

Then,  standing  by  the  body  of  the  dead  knight,  La  Cote 
Male  Taile  found  himself  facing  a  host  of  knights  who  had 
gathered  around  him.  Leaping  from  the  horse,  he  led  the 
animal  through  the  gateway,  and  dashed  back,  sword  in 
hand,  to  meet  his  opponents.  Against  these  terrible  odds 
he  fought,  until  a  score  of  knights  fell  around  him,  but  it 
seemed  impossible  that  he  should  defeat  them  all.  Then 
the  damsel,  who  had  been  holding  his  own  horse,  called 
to  him  to  escape  with  her  through  the  postern  gate.  Throw- 
ing her  and  then  himself  upon  the  horse's  back,  they  made 
for  this  gate,  through  which  they  passed  unscathed.  But 
after  a  time  their  horse,  doubly  laden,  was  overtaken  by 
the  knights  of  Castle  Orgulous  on  fresh  horses  and  La 
Cote  Male  Taile  and  the  damsel  were  taken  prisoners. 

Now  when  Sir  Launcelot  of  the  Lake  had  heard  that 
the  older  knights  had  allowed  one  so  young  to  take  upon 
himself  this  terrible  quest  of  the  Black  Shield,  he  was  very 
wroth,  and  he  spurred  after  La  Cote  Male  Taile,  to  see 
whether  he  could  be  of  any  service  to  him.  When  he 
reached  Castle  Orgulous  he  challenged  each  of  the  knights 
of  the  castle  to  combat  and  having  overthrown  them  one 
after  another  he  ordered  that  all  the  prisoners  in  the  castle 
should  be  released.  Among  them  he  found  La  Cote  Male 
Taile  and  the  damsel. 

As  they  rode  away  Sir  Launcelot  reproached  the  dam- 
sel for  the  scornful  words  which  he  had  heard  that  she 
had  spoken  to  her  champion.  "For,"  he  said,  "this  youth 
is  one  of  the  bravest  knights  I  have  ever  known,  and  for 
love  of  him  I  followed,  to  succor  him  in  his  hour  of  need." 

Then  the  damsel  confessed  with  many  blushes   and 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING  :  IMAGINATIVE  STORIES  103 

tears  that  she  had  treated  him  so  scornfully  because  she 
loved  him  too,  and  had  hoped  by  this  means  to  dissuade  him 
from  this  quest,  which  she  feared  he  would  never  live  to 
accomplish.  At  this  La  Cote  Male  Taile  was  exceedingly 
glad,  for  he  himself  loved  the  damsel  who  was  the  fairest 
he  had  ever  seen. 

And  now  the  damsel  and  Sir  Launcelot  supposed  that 
Sir  La  Cote  Male  Taile  would  accompany  them  back  to 
the  court,  but  when  they  came  to  a  certain  cross-roads  he 
started  to  leave  them.  When  they  both  remonstrated  he 
pointed  to  the  Black  Shield  on  his  arm  and  reminded  the 
damsel  that  this  was  the  way  she  had  pointed  out  to 
Castle  Surluse,  where  lived  the  knight  who  had  overcome 
the  owner  of  this  Black  Shield,  and  that  he  could  not 
return  until  he  had  fulfilled  his  quest.  Neither  would  he 
permit  the  damsel  or  Sir  Launcelot  to  go  with  him. 

So  he  rode  alone  to  Castle  Surluse,  where  he  sum- 
moned forth  the  knight  of  the  castle  to  combat.  And  after 
a  terrible  fight  on  horse  and  foot,  in  which  he  received 
many  terrible  wounds,  but  did  not  a  whit  abate  the  vigor 
of  his  blows,  he  vanquished  the  knight  who  had  slain 
the  owner  of  the  Black  Shield.  And  when  he  opened 
the  visor  of  his  adversary  he  found  that  he  had  slain 
the  murderer  of  his  father. 

After  the  castle  was  thus  delivered  into  his  hands  and 
he  had  freed  its  prisoners,  he  rode  slowly  and  fainting 
back  to  the  court.  Here  the  damsel  tenderly  nursed  him. 
And  now  La  Cote  Male  Taile  was  given  great  lands  by 
King  Arthur,  and  after  a  time  he  wedded  the  damsel 
for  whom  he  had  achieved  the  adventure  of  the  Black 
Shield. 

When  he  was  fully  come  to  man's  estate  the  young 
knight  filled  out  to  the  full  the  coat  of  his  father,  but  he 
still  continued  to  be  called  La  Cote  Male  Taile,  in  honor 
of  his  courage  when  a  lad.  But  there  was  one  knight  who 
never  called  him  La  Cote  Male  Taile — and  that  was  Sir 
Kay  the  Seneschal. 


104  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


PARABLES    AND   ALLEGORIES 

As  has  already  been  intimated,  parables  and  allegories 
present  the  difficulty  that  many  children  insist  on  taking 
them  literally  and  see  in  them  no  more  than  the  bare  inci- 
dents of  the  story.  But  they  are  such  favorites  with  us 
who  are  older  and  there  are  so  many  of  them  at  hand 
that  we  are  tempted  to  use  them  if  possible.  And,  with 
skill,  it  is  possible.  Let  us  give  some  special  attention  to 
the  use  of  analogies  in  moral  training,  and  to  make  our 
suggestions  concrete  examine  carefully  a  few  unusually 
good  examples. 

We  have  said  that  the  inner  meaning  of  the  allegory 
is  not  always  appreciated  by  young  children.  Some  of 
them,  however,  have  more  insight  than  we  give  them  credit 
for,  and  this  insight  is  stimulated  if  there  be  a  touch  of 
humor  in  the  narrative.  A  bit  of  humor  is  an  antidote 
both  to  false  sentiment  on  the  part  of  the  parent  and  to  an 
untrue  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  child.  It  has  a 
happy  effect  in  bringing  the  child  en  rapport  with  the  story- 
teller. When  he  sees  the  twinkle  in  the  narrator's  eye  he 
gets  ready  for  sympathetic  listening.  This  element  of  the 
unexpected  is  illustrated  in  the  somewhat  familiar  parable 
of  'The  Magic  Shirt."  It  would  take  only  the  shortest 
questioning  at  the  close  to  help  the  child  to  the  answer,  that 
happiness  does  not  necessarily  depend  upon  the  possession 
of  a  shirt,  Or  indeed  of  many  other  supposed  necessities. 
The  stimulus  to  the  correct  answer  is  given  in  the  humor 
that  wakes  up  the  mind  and  makes  it  intent  and  appreciative. 


THE    MAGIC    SHIRT 

Once  a  king  lay  dying.    The  doctors  had  done  all  they 
could  for  him,  and  declared  that  nothing  could  save  him. 
The  king  was  not  willing  to  believe  that  his  time  was 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING  :  IMAGINATIVE  STORIES  105 

come.  He  sent  for  a  certain  wise  man,  and  asked  him 
what  he  must  do  to  get  well. 

The  wise  man  said,  "O  king,  if  thou  couldst  wear  the 
shirt  of  a  truly  happy  man  for  one  night,  thou  wouldst 
recover."  This  was  as  much  as  to  say  that  the  king  was 
dying  of  discontent. 

Hearing  this,  the  officers  of  the  king  sent  out  to  search 
the  kingdom  for  a  truly  happy  man.  They  found  none 
for  a  long  time. 

Some  men  complained  because  they  were  poor,  and 
some  who  had  riches  felt  their  wealth  a  burden.  Some 
were  "worked  to  death,"  as  they  said,  and  some  were  un- 
happy because  they  had  nothing  to  do.  Some  had  none 
to  love  them,  and  some  had  families  larger  than  they  could 
support. 

At  last  a  man  was  found  who  complained  of  nothing 
and  confessed  that  he  was  always  happy.  But  he  had  no 
shirt ! 

When  the  king  heard  this,  he  arose  from  his  bed,  saying 
he  would  live  a  simple  life  and  never  be  discontented  again. 

Children  have  to  be  a  little  older  in  order  to  appreciate 
analogies  that  are  spiritual  rather  than  material.  Even 
then  we  who  tell  them  such  stories  are  likely  to  err  in 
two  ways :  our  analogy  is  not  perfect  or  else  it  is  indefinite. 
The  analogy  is  imperfect  because  we  have  not  clearly 
enough  seen  what  we  wish  to  teach  and  it  is  indefinite 
because  we  are  trying  to  teach  several  truths  with  one  story. 
Here  is  a  story  that  was  told  by  Maud  Lindsay  in  "Mother 
Stories,"  published  by  Milton  Bradley  Co.,  who  desired 
to  show  a  girl,  of  perhaps  twelve,  the  tragedy  that  comes 
if  a  child  breaks  the  bonds  of  confidence  between  her- 
self and  her  mother.  In  the  following  beautiful  para- 
ble of  "The  Closing  Door,"  the  analogy  is  both  definite 
and  complete,  and  the  tenderness  of  affection  manifested 
in  the  story  is  bound  to  be  deeply  appealing  to  the  feelings. 


106  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

THE    CLOSING    DOOR 

There  was  once  a  little  girl  (her  best  and  sweetest 
name  was  Little  Daughter),  who  had  a  dear  little  room, 
all  her  own,  which  was  full  of  treasures,  and  was  as  lovely 
as  love  could  make  it. 

You  never  could  imagine,  no  matter  how  you  tried,  a 
room  more  beautiful  than  hers ;  for  it  was  white  an4  shining 
from  the  snowy  floor  to  the  ceiling,  which  looked  as  if  it 
might  have  been  made  of  a  fleecy  cloud.  The  curtains  at 
the  windows  were  like  the  petals  of  a  lily,  and  the  little 
bed  was  like  swan's  down. 

There  were  white  pansies,  too,  that  bloomed  in  the 
windows,  and  a  dove  whose  voice  was  sweet  as  music; 
and  among  her  treasures  she  had  a  string  of  pearls  which 
she  was  to  wear  about  her  neck  when  the  king  of  the 
country  sent  for  her,  as  he  had  promised  to  do  some  day. 

This  string  of  pearls  grew  longer  and  more  beautiful 
as  the  little  girl  grew  older,  for  a  new  pearl  was  given 
her  as  soon  as  she  waked  up  each  morning ;  and  every 
one  was  a  gift  from  this  king,  who  bade  her  keep  them 
fair. 

Her  mother  helped  her  to  take  care  of  them  and  of 
all  the  other  beautiful  things  in  her  room.  Every  morning, 
after  the  new  pearl  was  slipped  on  the  string,  they  would 
set  the  room  in  order ;  and  every  evening  they  would  look 
over  the  treasures  and  enjoy  them  together,  while  they 
carefully  wiped  away  any  specks  of  dust  that  had  gotten 
in  during  the  day  and  made  the  room  less  lovely. 

There  were  several  doors  and  windows,  which  the  little 
girl  could  open  and  shut  just  as  she  pleased,  in  this  room; 
but  there  was  one  door  which  was  always  open,  and  that 
was  the  one  which  led  into  her  mother's  room. 

No  matter  what  Little  Daughter  was  doing  she  was 
happier  if  her  mother  was  near;  and  although  she  some- 
times ran  away  into  her  own  room  and  played  by  herself, 
she  always  bounded  out  at  her  mother's  first  call,  and 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING  :  IMAGINATIVE  STORIES  107 

sprang  into  her  mother's  arms,  gladder  than  ever  to  be 
with  her  because  she  had  been  away. 

Now,  one  day  when  the  little  girl  was  playing  alone, 
she  had  a  visitor  who  came  in  without  knocking,  and 
who  seemed,  at  first,  very  much  out  of  place  in  the  shining 
white  room,  for  he  was  a  goblin  and  as  black  as  a  lump 
of  coal.  He  had  not  been  there  more  than  a  very  few 
minutes,  however,  before  nearly  everything  in  the  room 
began  to  look  more  like  him  and  less  like  driven  snow; 
and  although  the  little  girl  thought  that  he  was  very  strange 
and  ugly  when  she  first  saw  him,  she  soon  grew  used  to 
him,  and  found  him  an  entertaining  playfellow. 

She  wanted  to  call  her  mother  to  see  him,  but  he  said : 
"Oh!  no;  we  are  having  such  a  nice  time  together,  and 
she's  busy,  you  know."  So  the  little  girl  did  not  call;  and 
the  mother,  who  was  making  a  dress  of  fine  lace  for  her 
darling,  did  not  dream  that  a  goblin  was  in  the  little  white 
room. 

The  goblin  did  not  make  any  noise,  you  know,  for  he 
tiptoed  all  the  time,  as  if  he  were  afraid;  and  if  he  heard 
a  sound  he  would  jump.  But  he  was  a  merry  goblin, 
and  he  amused  the  little  girl  so  much  that  she  did  not 
notice  the  change  in  her  dear  room. 

The  curtains  grew  dingy,  the  floor  dusty,  and  the 
ceiling  looked  as  if  it  might  have  been  made  of  a  rain 
cloud ;  but  the  child  played  on,  and  got  out  all  her  treasures 
to  show  her  visitor. 

The  pansies  drooped  and  faded,  the  white  dove  hid 
its  head  beneath  its  wing  and  moaned;  and  the  last  pearl 
on  the  precious  string  grew  dark  when  the  goblin  touched 
it  with  his  smutty  fingers. 

"Oh,  dear  me!"  said  the  little  girl  when  she  saw  this. 
"I  must  call  my  mother;  for  these  are  the  pearls  that  I 
must  wear  to  the  king's  court,  when  he  sends  for  me." 

"Never  mind,"  said  the  goblin,  "we  can  wash  it,  and 
if  it  isn't  just  as  white  as  before,  what  difference  does  it 
make  about  one  pearl?" 


108  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

"But  mother  says  that  they  all  must  be  as  fair  as 
the  morning/'  insisted  the  little  girl,  ready  to  cry.  "And 
what  will  she  say  when  she  sees  this  one?" 

"You  shut  the  door  then,"  said  the  goblin,  pointing  to 
the  door  that  had  never  been  closed,  "and  I'll  wash  the 
pearl."  So  the  little  girl  ran  to  close  the  door,  and  the 
goblin  began  to  rub  the  pearl ;  but  it  only  seemed  to  grow 
darker.  Now  the  door  had  been  open  so  long  that  it  was 
hard  to  move,  and  it  creaked  on  its  hinges  as  the  little  girl 
tried  to  close  it.  When  the  mother  heard  this  she  looked 
up  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  She  had  been  thinking 
about  the  dress  which  she  was  making;  but  when  she  saw 
the  closing  door,  her  heart  stood  still  with  fear;  for  she 
knew  that  if  it  once  closed  tight  she  might  never  be  able 
to  open  it  again. 

She  dropped  her  fine  laces  and  ran  toward  the  door 
calling,  "Little  Daughter!  Little  Daughter!  Where  are 
you  ?"  and  she  reached  out  her  hands  to  stop  the  door.  But 
as  soon  as  the  little  girl  heard  that  loving  voice  she 
answered : 

"Mother,  oh,  Mother!  I  need  you  so!  My  pearl  is 
turning  black  and  everything  is  wrong !"  and  flinging  the 
door  wide  open  she  ran  into  her  mother's  arms. 

When  the  two  went  together  into  the  little  room,  the 
goblin  had  gone.  The  pansies  now  bloomed  again,  and 
the  white  dove  cooed  in  peace;  but  there  was  much  work 
for  the  mother  and  daughter,  and  they  rubbed  and  scrubbed 
and  washed  and  swept  and  dusted,  till  the  room  was  so 
beautiful  that  you  would  not  have  known  that  a  goblin 
had  been  there — except  for  the  one  pearl,  which  was  a 
little  blue  always,  even  when  the  king  was  ready  for  Little 
Daughter  to  come  to  his  court,  although  that  was  not 
until  she  was  a  very  old  woman. 

As  for  the  door,  it  was  never  closed  again;  for  Little 
Daughter  and  her  mother  put  two  golden  hearts  against  it 
and  nothing  in  this  world  could  have  shut  it. 

While  it  is  often  said  that  "no  parable  will  go  on  all 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING  :  IMAGINATIVE  STORIES  109 

fours,"  and  we  appreciate  that  no  analogy  should  be  pressed 
too  far,  yet  especially  when  homely  incidents  are  chosen 
they  should  be  true  to  facts,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  reason- 
able conviction  to  the  audience.  E.  P.  St.  John  cites,  as 
a  failure  in  this  respect,  a  parable  in  which  someone,  desir- 
ing to  emphasize  the  thought  that  goodness  dries  up  unless 
its  sources  are  fed,  told  the  story  of  a  western  town  that 
received  all  its  v/ater  from  a  cistern  on  a  hilltop.  Suddenly 
the  pipes  ran  dry,  the  inhabitants  suffered  and  finally  were 
all  getting  ready  to  move  aw*ay,  when  a  tramp  came  along 
and  showed  them  how  a  pal  of  his  had  plugged  the  pipe 
below  the  cistern.  The  trouble  here,  as  St.  John  says, 
is  that  we  are  so  irritated  by  the  unreasonableness  of  the 
narrative  that  we  lose  its  moral  force.  While  the  story- 
teller is  enlarging  upon  the  distress  of  the  citizens  and 
their  decision  to  give  up  the  town,  our  common  sense  is 
telling  us,  'That  is  not  the  way  people  would  act;  they 
would  send  for  a  plumber."  Our  analogies  should  not 
only  be  homely  but  they  should  be  reasonable. 

The  trouble,  too,  with  the  parable  often  is  that  the 
analogy  is  so  far-fetched  as  to  deal  with  such  unfamiliar 
incidents  that  they  are  not  impressive  to  the  child.  One 
reason  why  the  parables  of  Jesus  are  the  most  perfect  ever 
told  is  because  they  had  to  do  with  the  everyday  occupa- 
tions, the  common  occurrences  of  life,  the  birds,  the  beasts 
and  the  blossoms.  (The  telling  of  Bible  stories  is  reserved 
for  another  chapter.) 

What  we  have  been  saying  about  parables  may  be 
summarized  as  follows: 

1.  With    young    children    the    analogy    should   be    quite 

literal,   having  to  do  with  the  child's   familiar  ex- 
periences and  occupations. 

2.  Later  the  analogy  may  be  more  spiritual,  but  it  should 

be  complete  and  definite;  that  is,  it  should  be  true, 
and  it  should  bear  but  one  application. 


110  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

3.  In  all  parables  it  is  helpful  if  there  may  be  the  element 
of  humor,  awakening  the  sympathy  of  the  child  with 
the  story-teller  and  the  alertness  of  the  child  to 
the  meaning  of  the  story. 


XI 

THE  STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING:    REAL- 
ISTIC  STORIES 

REALISTIC    STORIES    AND    BIOGRAPHY 

A  good  realistic  story  is  hard  to  find.  When  it  is 
interesting  it  is  likely  to  fail  in  moral  appeal,  and  if  it 
has  a  strong  moral  appeal  it  is  likely  not  to  be  interesting. 
In  searching  for  realistic  stories,  it  is  especially  important 
that  they  should  touch  the  actual  life  of  the  child.  The 
popular  books  which  are  intended  for  the  moral  uplift 
of  children  usually  dwell  upon  anecdotes  taken  from  the 
lives  of  great  merchants  or  inventors. 

The  writer  has  recently  been  examining,  in  the  search 
for  this  sort  of  material,  a  handbook  for  teaching  morals 
through  biography,  which  claims  to  have  been  sold  to 
over  ten  thousand  public  schools  in  America.  In  almost 
every  case  the  instances  were  drawn  from  such  sources 
as  Roman  history,  Revolutionary  patriotism  or  large  intel- 
lectual and  commercial  success.  The  cases  in  which  the 
ordinary  occupations  and  situations  of  men  and  boys  were 
alluded  to  might  be  counted  on  one's  fingers. 

Dr.  Coe  very  sensibly  says:  "Does  anyone  really 
believe  that  Willie  Green  of  the  fifth  grade  will  study  his 
lessons  because  John  Wanamaker,  Thomas  A.  Edison,  and 
Luther  Burbank  work  hard  in  their  respective  occupations  ? 
Willie  is  engaged  with  functions  which  to  him  are  different 
from  those  of  merchant,  inventor,  and  naturalist.  At  some 
point  in  his  course  it  will,  perhaps,  be  worth  while  for  him 

in 


112  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

to  study  the  career  of  Mr.  Wanamaker  in  order  to  see 
what  a  merchant  does  for  society,  and  how  he  does  it; 
Mr.  Edison's  career,  to  see  what  an  inventor  does  for 
society,  and  how  he  does  it;  and  Mr.  Burbank's  career,  to 
see  how  the  breeds  of  plants  and  of  animals  can  be  im- 
proved, and  why  they  should  be  improved;  but  if  you 
wish  to  make  eleven-year-old  Willie  Green  enjoy  hard  study, 
you  must  find  your  leverage  in  something  that  he  can 
recognize  as  his  own  present  good." 

It  is  the  life  with  which  the  child  is  in  contact  that 
constitutes  primarily  the  material  for  his  growth.  Such 
material  is  always  at  hand.  At  the  corner  is  a  policeman. 
What  does  the  policeman  do,  and  why  does  he  do  it  ?  Down 
the  street  is  a  grocer.  What  does  the  grocer  do,  and  why 
does  he  do  it?  What  does  a  nickel  theater,  a  bill-board,  a 
railroad,  a  newspaper  do?  "Here  is  the  material  upon 
which  the  children  are  actually  forming  their  character, 
whether  we  will  or  no."  Out  of  this  material,  near  at 
hand,  and  in  which  the  child  is  already  interested,  we  are 
to  build  our  realistic  stories.  Coe  cites  this  instance:  "A 
boy  was  throwing  stones  at  a  street  lamp.  A  passerby  said, 
'Why  do  you  wish  to  break  your  father's  lamp?'  'It  isn't 
my  father's  lamp!'  replied  the  boy.  'Who  pays  for  street 
lamps,  then?'  was  the  rejoinder.  A  not  less  pointed  exam- 
ple of  the  effect  of  defining  one's  purpose  to  one's  self  is 
this:  Get  a  boy  to  tell  you  what  he  really  wants  in  the 
next  game  of  baseball  that  he  plays,  and  you  will  draw 
out  of  him  the  right  material  for  awakening  indignation 
and  scorn,  admiration  and  social  purpose." 

When  we  do  find  a  realistic  story  that  is  good  it  makes 
a  legend  look  pale.  Here  is  an  incident,  abridged  from 
some  popular  periodical,  about 

JIMMY   AND   THE    SHARPER 

A  boy  applied  at  a  broker's  office  for  a  place  as  office 
boy.  He  was  not  very  strong-appearing,  but  his  mother 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING:  REALISTIC  STORIES     113 

was  with  him,  and  she  said  he  would  be  a  good  one — "or 
just  let  her  know." 

The  broker  was  just  about  to  set  the  lad  at  work 
when  he  happened  to  remember  that  there  was  a  crowd 
of  other  boys  outside  who  had  also  applied  for  the  job. 

"Tell  them  to  go,"  said  he. 

When  the  boy  came  in  again  there  was  a  bump  on  his 
lip  where  one  of  them  had  hit  him,  and  his  necktie  was 
gone,  but  he  made  no  complaint  and  sat  down  quietly  to 
learn  to  copy  letters. 

Toward  noon  the  business  man  went  out  to  lunch. 

"I  shall  be  back  at  two;  if  anyone  calls  get  him  to 
wait  or  to  leave  a  message." 

Pretty  soon  a  young  man  came  in  from  another  office, 
but  he  left  no  message  and  said  he  would  call  again. 

Promptly  Jimmy  tackled  him,  though  he  was  the 
larger,  and  when  the  broker  returned  Jimmy  was  sitting 
on  his  stomach. 

The  broker  was  surprised,  to  say  the  least,  but  Jimmy 
said: 

"He  wouldn't  wait  and  he  wouldn't  leave  any  message, 
so  I  had  to  make  him." 

As  this  was  just  what  he  had  been  told  to  do,  his 
employer  could  only  laugh  and  pay  the  young  man  for  his 
hurt  feelings. 

A  day  or  two  later  the  broker  gave  Jimmy  a  certified 
check  and  told  him  to  take  it  to  another  business  office. 
He  also  handed  him  an  engraved  bond  and  told  him  that 
if  the  man  there  handed  him  forty-nine  more  like  it,  he 
might  give  him  the  check  in  return.  The  check  was  for 
fifty  thousand  dollars. 

About  ten  minutes  later  a  friend  rushed  into  the 
broker's  office  and  convinced  him  that  the  man  to  whom  he 
had  sent  Jimmy  was  a  sharper  and  that  the  bonds  were 
worthless. 

But  Jimmy  had  probably  given  up  the  check  by  this 
time! 


114  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

They  hurried  down  the  elevator  to  see  if  they  could 
overtake  the  thief. 

When  Jimmy  reached  his  destination  the  sharper 
wanted  to  seize  the  check  at  once,  but  Jimmy  insisted  on 
seeing  the  bonds. 

The  sharper  gave  him  one. 

Jimmy  asked  for  the  others. 

"Give  me  that  check !"  the  sharper  shouted. 

But  Jimmy  would  not  do  so,  and  the  sharper  had  to 
hand  the  others  over. 

Jimmy  began  to  examine  them,  one  by  one. 

The  alarmed  and  impatient  thief  sprang  at  Jimmy. 
Together  they  fell  to  the  floor,  and  there  they  scuffled  and 
rolled.  Not  a  word  did  Jimmy  say,  but  he  kicked  and 
fought  the  man  with  all  his  might.  At  length  the  brute 
stunned  him  with  his  revolver. 

Just  then  the  broker  and  his  friend  rushed  in,  and  as 
they  bumped  together  the  sharper  slipped  past  and  escaped. 

They  picked  Jimmy  up,  white  and  bloody,  and  asked 
him  anxiously  if  he  was  hurt. 

"I  ain't  hoited,"  he  said  faintly. 

Then  he  spat  a  little  wad  of  paper  from  his  mouth. 

It  was  the  check  for  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

Don't  you  believe  that  broker  appreciated  Jimmy's 
obedience  ? 

When  we  find  a  life  that  has  imbedded  in  its  ex- 
perience a  lesson  for  the  young,  we  must  remember  that 
we  are  engaged  in  the  endeavor  to  help  character-building, 
not  to  furnish  biographical  information.  That  a  child 
should  at  some  time  or  other  have  a  fairly  clear  and  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  career  of  Washington  is  desirable,  but 
the  time  to  give  him  such  an  idea  is  not  when  we  are 
trying  to  inculcate  honesty  through  the  cherry-tree  episode. 
In  moral  training,  biography  is  made  for  the  child  and 
not  the  child  for  the  biography.  All  endeavors  toward 
character-building  through  biography  must  evidently  be 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING:  REALISTIC  STORIES    115 

discriminative.  We  may  indeed  praise  Weems,  who  seems 
to  have  invented  the  cherry-tree  story,  that  if  he  was  not  a 
wholly  accurate  biographer  he  was  an  excellent  moralist, 
for  he  chose  a  story  which  is  one  of  the  classics  of  truth- 
fulness. So  we  may  leave  to  the  history  books  and  to 
later  reading  complete  knowledge  of  the  achievements  of 
any  hero  if  only  we  may  choose,  what  was  very  likely 
his  greatest  achievement,  a  golden  deed  that  shall  inspire 
our  children. 

PLUTARCH'S    STORIES 

Plutarch's  stories  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  heroes  have 
generally  been  regarded  as  models  for  all  time  of  tales  for 
a  purpose.  They  are  always  short,  and  they  excel  chiefly 
in  the  matter  of  a  wise  selectiveness ;  they  usually  include 
but  one  achievement  or  one  sententious  phrase.  Let  us 
cite  a  few  of  them,  to  remind  ourselves  how  this  great 
Grecian  ever  declined  to  aim  at  more  than  one  mark  at  a 
time. 

OF    FORTITUDE 

When  an  express  came  out  of  the  field  to  Xenophon 
the  Socratic  as  he  was  sacrificing,  which  acquainted  him 
that  his  son  had  perished  in  the  fight,  he  pulled  the  garland 
from  his-  head,  and  inquired  after  what  manner  he  fell. 
And  it  being  told  him  that  he  died  gallantly,  after  he  had 
paused  a  while  to  recollect  his  thoughts  and  quiet  his  first 
emotion  of  concern  with  reason,  he  adorned  his  head  again, 
finished  the  sacrifice,  and  spoke  thus  to  the  messenger: 
"I  did  not  make  it  my  request  to  the  gods  that  my  son 
be  immortal  or  long-lived,  but  that  he  might  be  a  lover 
of  his  country.  And  now  I  have  my  desire." 

OF    REAL   WORTH 

Being  exhorted  to  hear  one  that  imitated  the  voice  of 
a  nightingale,  ''I  have  often,"  replied  Agesilaus,  "heard 
nightingales  themselves." 


116  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


OF    GOOD    HUMOR 

Damonidas,  being  placed  by  him  that  ordered  the 
chorus  in  the  last  rank  of  it,  said:  "Well  done!  you  have 
found  a  way  to  make  this  place  also  honorable." 

When  Pandaretus  was  not  chosen  among  the  Three- 
Hundred  (the  chief  order  in  the  city)  he  went  away  laugh- 
ing and  very  jocund.  When  the  Ephors  calling  him  back 
asked  him  why  he  laughed,  "Why,"  said  he,  "I  congratulate 
the  happiness  of  the  city  that  enjoys  three  hundred  citizens 
better  than  myself." 


ON    REAL    COURTESY 

An  old  man  in  the  Olympic  games,  being  desirous  to  see 
the  sport,  and  unprovided  of  a  seat,  went  about  from  place 
to  place,  but  none  offered  him  the  civility.  But  when  he 
came  to  the  Spartans'  quarter  all  the  boys  and  some  of 
the  men  rose  from  their  seats  and  made  room.  At  this 
all  the  Greeks  clapped  and  praised  their  behavior;  upon 
which  the  good  old  man  shaking  his  hoary  hairs,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  said:  "Good  God!  how  well  all  the 
Greeks  know  what  is  good,  and  yet  only  the  Spartans 
practice  it!" 

ON    CONTENTMENT 

Socrates  hearing  one  of  his  friends  crying  out,  "How 
dear  things  are  sold  in  this  city !  the  wine  of  Chios  costs  a 
mina,  the  purple  fish  three,  and  a  half  pint  of  honey  five 
drachmas" — he  brought  him  to  the  miller's,  and  showed 
him  that  half  a  peck  of  flour  was  sold  for  a  penny.  "  Tis 
a  cheap  city,"  said  he.  Then  he  brought  him  to  the  oil 
merchant's,  and  told  him  that  he  might  have  a  quart  of 
olives  for  two  farthings.  "  'Tis  a  cheap  city,"  said  he. 
At  last  he  went  to  the  clothier's,  and  convinced  him  that 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING:  REALISTIC  STORIES    117 

the  price  of  a  sleeveless  jerkin  was  only  ten  drachmas. 
'  'Tis  a  cheap  city,"  he  repeated. 

Of  course  Plutarch's  sentiments  are  generally  too  ma- 
ture for  children,  but  his  directness  was  admirable.  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  was  truly  one  of  Plutarch's  men,  and  some 
of  his  homely  stones  not  only  were  pungent  but  are 
believed,  rightly,  better  to  help  men  understand  him  than 
have  elaborate  books  of  biography.  This  is  one  of  his 
lesser  known  tales : 

A  politician  once  went  to  him  to  get  offices  for  himself 
and  his  gang.  Lincoln  received  him  politely,  said  to  him 
that  he  was  sorry  he  had  no  good  offices  for  him  and  his 
friends,  but  that  he  could  tell  him  a  good  story. 


ONE    OF    LINCOLN'S    STORIES 

"Once  there  was  a  king  who  kept  an  astrologer  to 
forewarn  him  of  coming  events,  and  especially  to  tell  him 
whether  it  was  going  to  rain  when  he  wished  to  go  hunting. 
One  day  he  started  for  the  forest  with  a  train  of  knights 
and  ladies,  when  he  met  a  farmer. 

"  'Good  morning,  farmer,'  said  the  king. 

"  'Good  morning,  king,'  said  the  farmer ;  'where  are 
you  folks  going?' 

"  'Hunting/  said  the  king. 

"  'Hunting  ?    You'll  get  all  wet !' 

"The  king  trusted  his  astrologer  and  kept  on,  but  sure 
enough  there  came  up  a  tremendous  storm  at  midday  that 
drenched  the  king  and  his  whole  party. 

"As  soon  as  he  got  back  to  the  palace  the  king  had 
his  astrologer  dismissed  and  sent  for  the  farmer  to  take 
his  place. 

"  'Law  sakes !'  said  the  farmer,  when  he  arrived.  'It 
ain't  me  that  knows  when  it  is  going  to  rain;  it's  my 
donkey.  When  it's  goin'  to  be  fair  weather,  he  always 
carries  his  ears  forward,  so.  When  it's  goin'  to  rain,  he 


118  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

puts  'em  backward,  so.'  So  the  king  appointed  the  donkey 
court  astrologer. 

"But  he  always  declared,"  Lincoln  concluded,  "that 
that  appointment  was  the  greatest  mistake  he  ever  made 
in  his  life." 

"Why?  Didn't  the  donkey  do  his  duty?"  asked  the 
office  seeker. 

"Yes,"  answered  the  President,  "but  after  that  every 
donkey  in  the  country  wanted  an  office!" 

When  we  can  succeed  in  telling  stories  from  real  lives 
convincingly  we  are  doing  children  a  great  service.  They 
are  incapable  of  seeing  history,  as  we  see  it,  as  composed 
of  great  movements  and  eras;  to  them  it  is  simply  the 
sum  of  the  lives  of  men  whom  they  revere.  When  we 
inspire  them  with  great  biography  we  bring  them  to  see  the 
history  of  mankind  as  Pascal  urged  that  it  be  seen,  "the 
whole  succession  of  man  during  many  ages  to  be  considered 
as  One  Man,  ever  living  and  constantly  learning." 

SUGGESTIONS    AS    TO    TELLING   MORAL 
STORIES 

A  few  special  suggestions  may  be  helpful. 

In  the  first  place,  we  must  always  be  sure  that  what 
we  intend  to  give  is  a  story.  Henry  van  Dyke  summed  up 
the  whole  word  about  story-telling  for  moral  use  in  his 
famous  prayer:  "Grant,  Lord,  that  I  may  never  tag  a 
moral  to  a  tale,  and  that  I  may  never  tell  a  story  without 
a  purpose."  It  is,  of  course,  the  first  part  of  this  petition 
which  we  need  especially  to  heed.  We  have  so  little  faith 
in  the  effectiveness  of  our  own  stories.  Yet  if  a  story  is 
really  to  be  effective,  it  must  be  a  story  and  not  a  sermon. 
Let  us  never  call  it  "an  anecdote";  never  in  story-telling 
use  the  word  "character,"  "will  power,"  "virtue,"  or  any 
of  the  names  which  go  with  a  book  of  ethical  lessons.  A 
child  should  go  away  from  our  story  not  feeling  "in- 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING:  REALISTIC  STORIES    119 

structed,"  "improved,"  or  depressed,  but  joyous,  affectionate 
and  courageous. 

^  Let  us  use  at  least  the  tact  of  a  Pueblo  Indian  in  our 
choice  of  a  time  for  story-telling.  We  must  lie  in  wait 
with  our  story  as  the  hunter  does  with  his  gun  if  we  are 
going  to  hit  the  mark.  This  implies  that  we  must  have 
plenty  of  ammunition.  The  parent,  recognizing  in  a  child 
a  besetting  sin,  should  stock  up  with  stories  which  will 
inform,  convince  and  inspire  the  child  to  conquer  that 
special  frailty.  In  a  quiet  moment  before  going  to  sleep, 
in  the  leisure  of  Sunday,  during  the  confidential  half  hours 
which  come  frequently,  though  unexpectedly,  the  skilful 
mother  will  insert  her  story. 

The  manner  of  moral  story-telling  is  of  considerable 
importance.  Though  preaching,  we  are  not  to  adopt  the 
preacher's  tone.  We  are  to  avoid  the  "high  pulpit  manner." 
The  story  is  to  be  told  with  evident  enjoyment,  if  possible 
with  a  touch  of  humor. 

"Do  not  take  the  moral  plum  out  of  the  fairy  tale 
pudding,"  says  Dr.  Adler,  "but  let  the  child  enjoy  it  as  a 
whole.  Do  not  make  the  story  taper  toward  a  single  point, 
the  moral  point.  You  will  squeeze  all  the  juice  out  of  it 
if  you  try.  Do  not  subordinate  the  purely  fanciful  and 
naturalistic  elements  of  the  story,  such  as  the  love  of 
mystery,  the  passion  for  roving,  the  sense  of  fellowship 
with  the  animal  world,  in  order  to  fix  attention  solely  on 
the  moral  element.  On  the  contrary,  you  will  gain  the  best 
moral  effect  by  proceeding  in  exactly  the  opposite  way. 
Treat  the  moral  element  as  an  incident;  emphasize  it, 
indeed,  but  incidentally.  Pluck  it  as  a  wayside  flower. 
How  often  does  it  happen  that,  having  set  out  on  a  journey 
with  a  distinct  object  in  mind,  something  occurs  on  the 
way  which  we  had  not  foreseen,  but  which  in  the  end 
leaves  the  deepest  impression  on  the  mind.  The  object 
which  we  had  in  view  is  not  forgotten,  but  the  incident 
which  happened  by  the  way  is  remembered  for  years  after. 


120  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

So  the  moral  result  will  not  be  less  sure  because  gained 
incidentally." 

And  when  it  has  been  told — let  it  alone.  For  this 
reason  it  is  usually  well  for  the  story-teller  to  depart  sud- 
denly after  he  has  winged  his  arrow  to  the  mark.  May  we 
be  delivered  from  the  temptation  of  what  Emerson  once 
termed,  to  "pound  on  an  incident." 

In  our  manner  the  finest  virtue  will  be  sympathy. 
Sympathy  with  our  subject  and  our  hero.  To  quote  Emer- 
son again,  his  highest  praise  of  Plutarch,  the  greatest  pur- 
posive story-teller  of  all  time,  was  that  "he  never  lost  his 
admiration,"  or,  as  he  put  it  in  another  place,  "He  had  that 
universal  sympathy  with  genius  which  makes  all  its  vic- 
tories his  own."  Sympathy,  too,  with  the  child.  The  -vice 
of  the  teacher  is  contempt  of  his  pupil.  It  is  hard  to  tell 
a  child  an  improving  story  without  looking  down  upon 
him.  But  if  Dr.  Norton  said  that  the  worst  book  is  the 
one  that  makes  life  seem  less  interesting,  he  might  have 
added  that  the  worst  story  is  the  one  that  makes  the  child 
feel  inferior.  There  is  no  special  reason  why  we  should 
act  superior  to  the  child ;  we  are  in  many  ways  not  so 
sweet  and  pure  as  he,  and  we  have  by  no  means  attained 
all  the  virtues  of  which  we  prate  so  glibly.  Our  truest 
mood  toward  the  noble  men  of  whom  we  tell  is  that  We 
should  delight  in  them,  sitting — to  quote  once  more  what 
Emerson  said  of  Plutarch — "as  the  bestower  of  the  crown 
of  noble  knighthood,  and  laureate  of  the  ancient  world." 

And  yet,  with  all  our  caution  about  preachiness,  we  do 
want  our  children  really  to  get  the  application  of  the  story. 
Nathan's  tremendous  parable  to  King  David  did  not  satisfy 
the  prophet  until  he  was  sure  that  the  king  received  into 
his  heart  the  word,  "Thou  art  the  man."  Especially  per- 
haps in  the  Bible  stories  are  children  likely  to  feel  content 
that  what  we  tell  took  place  a  long  time  ago  and  related 
to  the  sins  of  somebody  else.  The  child,  we  have  said, 
tends  to  personalize  himself  as  the  hero  of  each,  but  he 
may  not  do  so  unless  the  story  is  effectively  told.  Mrs. 


STORY  IN  CHARACTER-BUILDING:  REALISTIC  STORIES     121 

Louise  Seymour  Houghton  had  an  experience  once,  which 
she  says  was  to  a  degree  humiliating  to  herself.  "I  had 
been  telling  the  children  the  story  of  Paradise  and  the 
Fall,  and  had  tagged  on  a  moral  after  the  usual  Sunday 
afternoon  fashion  of  those  days.  This  done,  I  dismissed 
the  children  for  a  game  of  romps  on  the  lawn,  before  the 
summer  bedtime.  But  my  little  three-year-old  presently 
came  back  and  climbed  into  my  lap,  as  I  sat  enjoying  the 
sunset.  For  a  while  he  sat  silent,  then  with  a  deep  sigh, 
the  words  burst  from  his  baby  mouth,  'Oh,  if  Eve  hadn't 
eaten  that  apple,  what  a  differenth  to  uth !'  How  my  con- 
science smote  me!  How  differently  I  might  have  told 
the  story!  My  baby  of  three  could  have  perfectly  com- 
prehended that  when  people  have  been  naughty  they  may 
not  stay  in  God's  garden,  and  he  would  simply  have  tried 
with  all  the  energy  of  his  little  will  to  be  good,  so  that  he 
might  stay  there ;  but  what  had  he  to  do  with  Eve's  trans- 
gression ?" 

One  mother  of  our  acquaintance  used  to  be  sure  of 
her  application  by  making  a  point  on  Sunday  to  tell,  under 
the  name  of  another  child  character,  of  dispositions  and 
incidents  which  she  had  noticed  in  her  own  children's  lives 
during  the  week.  She  did  this  so  skilfully  that  they  would, 
in  surprise,  tell  her  that  they  had  been  in  the  same  case. 
The  application  was  not  difficult.  It  is  possible  to  carry 
along  from  time  to  time  incidents  concerning  an  imaginary 
"Grumpy,"  or  "Lazy  Lawrence"  or  "Mary  Quite  Con- 
trary," and  promise  to  call  some  child  by  such  a  title  of 
reproach  if  he  deserves  it,  or,  still  better,  to  tell  of  the 
exploits  of  a  hero  and  encourage  the  child  to  incarnate 
him. 

A  long  list  of   stories  helpful   for  character-building 
is  given  in  Appendix  V. 


XII 
HOW  TO  TELL  BIBLE  STORIES 

"Our  first  duty  to  a  Bible  story  is  to  love  it ;  its  effect  we  may 
leave  to  the  divine  artist." — Richard  G.  Moulton. 

The  Bible  is  the  greatest  story-book  in  the  world. 
It  is  first  in  order  of  use. 

WHY  THE  BIBLE  IS  THE  BEST  STORY  BOOK 

When  we  ask  ourselves,  What  parts  of  the  Bible  do 
we  most  truly  know  ?  we  have  to  acknowledge  that  those 
parts  are,  on  the  whole,  not  always  the  ones  which  are 
of  loftiest  morality  but  those  which  embody  keen  story 
interest.  Jn^general.  we  are  much  more  familiar  with  the 
Pentateuch  than  with  the  Epistles,  with  the  Old  Testament 
than  with  the  New,  simply  because,,  during  childhood,  those 
parts,  through  stories,  were  first  giv£n-.us.  The  Bible  would 
not  be  a  book  dear  to  children  if  it  were  not  largely  a 
story  book.  It  is  the  realization  that  it  is  a  story  book 
which  causes  young  parents,  who  have  not  had  the  fore- 
sight to  provide  themselves  with  books  of  stories  to  tell 
to  the  children,  to  turn  to  this  book  which  they  remember 
was  used  in  this  way  with  themselves  when  they  were 
children. 

The  simplicity  of  the  stories  of  the  Bible  helps  account 
for  their  power  with  the  children.  Dr.  Felix  Adler  quotes 
Professor  Jebb,  who  remarked  that  Homer  aims  at  the 
lucid  expression  of  primary  motives  and  refrains  from 
multiplying  individual  traits  which  might  interfere  with 

122 


How  TO  TELL  BIBLE  STORIES  123 

their  effect.  This  charm  exists  in  the  Bible  as  well  as  in 
Homer.  The  Biblical  stories  adopt  a  few  essential  traits 
of  human  nature  and  refain  from  multiplying  minor  traits 
which  might  interfere  with  the  great  effect.  The  Bible 
tales  are  fascinating  in  outline  and  leave  every  age  free 
to  fill  them  out  so  as  to  satisfy  its  own  ideal. 

Dr.  Adler  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  such  simplicity 
is  very  difficult  to  use.  If  we  keep  our  eyes  fixed  on  the 
universal  essentials  of  character,  we  produce  a  set  of 
bloodless  institutions,  pale  shadows  of  reality.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  try  to  keep  as  near  as  possible  to  reality, 
we  will  probably  produce  more  or  less  accurate  copies  of 
the  people  around  us,  but  the  danger  will  be  that  the  univer- 
sal essential  will  be  lost.  This  is  possible  because  the  Bible, 
like  Homer,  was  written  in  a  time  when  life  was  much  less 
complex  than  it  is  at  present,  when  the  conversation,  the 
thoughts,  the  motives  of  men  were  simpler. 

One  reason  why  the  Bible  is  a  good  story  book  for 
children  is  because  of  its  candor.  Children,  we  know,  love 
truth  and  are  naturally  truth  tellers.  Our  tendency  in 
story-telling  is  always  to  eliminate  the  disagreeable,  to  leave 
out  all  that  is  bloodthirsty  and  cruel,  to  talk  about  none  but 
perfect  characters.  Such  a  method  is  not  only  untrue  to 
real  life  but  it  is  a  pale,  bloodless  and  ineffective  way  of 
story-telling.  The  Bible  is  not  like  the  cemetery  through 
which  the  child  is  said  to  have  passed  and  exclaimed  as 
he  read  all  the  eulogistic  inscriptions,  "Mother,  where  are 
all  the  bad  people  buried  ?  There  seem  to  be  none  of  them 
here."  It  is  rather  like  a  roofless  city,  like  Pompeii,  down 
into  whose  streets  and  homes  we  are  permitted  to  look 
and  see  it  inhabited  by  its  people,  living,  loving,  conquering, 
playing,  sinning  and  repenting.  The  moral  strength  of  the 
Bible  is  that  it  not  only  tells  us  that  the  wages  of  sin  is 
death  but  it  shows  us  human  persons  earning  those  wages. 

The  richness  of  material  in  the  Bible  makes  it  an 
admirable  story  book.  It  is,  as  we  know,  a  massive  collec- 
tion, consisting  really  of  sixty-six  different  volumes.  In 


124  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

these  many  pages  many  children  are  included.  Persons 
of  every  class  are  described,  from  the  working  folk  with 
whom  children  sympathize  to  princes  and  kings  of  whom 
children  love  to  hear.  Though  its  stories  are  somewhat 
defective  in  descriptions  of  nature,  they  are  full  of  varied 
animal  life.  They  contain  all  the  different  types  of  stories 
interesting  to  children  of  different  ages ;  fairy  tales,  fables, 
folk  lore  and  myths,  as  well  as  parables  and  biography. 
^These  stories  maintain  interest  because  they  deal  with 

•(jL^j^x  things  which  children  wish  to  know.  How  often  we  forget 
that  the  child  is  avid  for  knowledge  and  for  knowledge 
concerning  great  world  questions.  These  are  some  of  the 
subjects  of  Bible  stories:  the  origin  of  the  world  and  of 
human  beings ;  how  things  were  made ;  how  men,  women 
and  children  are  provided  for ;  what  are  the  varied  interests 
and  ambitions  about  which  men  have  been  busy;  what  our 
relations  are  to  God,  to  the  world  and  to  men;  what  is  to 
be  our  future  beyond  the  grave. 

We  know,  of  course,  that  almost  every  story  in  the 
Bible  has  a  religious  purpose.  "This,"  says  Louise  Seymour 
Houghton,  "is  the  value  of  the  Bible  stories  for  the  child : 
that  they  give  a  religious  meaning  to  all  the  experiences  of 
his  early  life,  and  furnish  the  bond  of  unity,  the  centraliz- 
ing focus  of  all  the  processes,  intellectual,  moral  and  spirit- 
al,  of  his  maturing  years.  'No  other  book  finds  me  as  the 
le  does,'  said  Coleridge,  and  this  is  superlatively  true 
*  of  the  child  of  any  age.  The  Bible  stories  find  him  as  no 

ft  .Ky/'other  stories  do." 

f*   /  A  minor,  but  important,  value  of  the  Bible  as  a  story 

book  is  that  even  the  order  of  the  books  as  printed  is 
appropriate  to  the  stages  of  the  child's  development.  It 
has  been  pointed  out  by  others  that  the  Bible  represents 
also  a  very  significant  genetic  order.  It  is  a  spiritual  history 
of  the  race,  and  it  is  also  the  story  of  the  inner  development 
of  every  individual.  It  begins  with  the  story  of  the  creation, 
a  wonder  tale  that  appeals  strongly  to  the  mind  of  the 
child.  Next  comes  the  period  of  pastoral  life,  affecting  all 


How  TO  TELL  BIBLE  STORIES  125 

the  child's  out-of-door  interests.  Then  is  the  heroic  stage, 
the  story  of  the  God  of  battles,  the  stern  and  just  lawgiver 
and  inflicter  of  punishments  like  the  parent,  a  narration  full 
of  wonderful  tales  of  which  the  child  never  tires.  The 
collection  then  moves  on  to  pictures  of  civic  splendor,  to 
the  days  of  degenerate  city  life,  in  which  the  old  ideals  for 
a  time  wane.  Then  comes  the  reign  of  Christ  in  the  world, 
the  story  of  the  regeneration  of  society  by  the  spirit  of  love 
and  sctf-sacrifice.  Last  of  all  is  the  philosophic  and  the 
theological  stage,  in  which  the  story  turns  upon  the  doc- 
trine of  the  church. 

THE    MANNER    OF   BIBLE  STORY-TELLING 

Some  people  seem  tn  think  it  necessary  to  assume  a 
peculiarly  sacred  manner  when  they  tell  a  Bible  story.  Too 
often,  as  Miss  Cowles  tells  us,  "Bible  stories  are  told  in  a 
truly  awful  manner,  and  children,  without  knowing  why, 
learn  to  dread  them.  They  oftentimes  seem  to  them  some- 
thing unreal,  something  which  they  cannot  understand, 
something  which  they  fear.  This  is  the  last  result  the 
story-teller  has  desired,  but  it  is  the  inevitable  result  of 
sanctimonious  substitutes  for  love,  joy  and  gentleness. 
Rightly  told,  Bible  stories  arouse  in  the  child  keen  interest 
and  deep  pleasure."  It  may  be  that  we  would  be  more 
likely  to  avoid  this  danger  if  we  were  to  begin  with  the 
more  simple  and  agreeable  narratives,  such  as  the  beautiful 
story  of  Joseph,  filled  with  wonder,  with  love,  with  forgive- 
ness and  moral  steadfastness,  the  wonderful  story  of  the 
Creation,  the  Patriarch  stories,  hero-stories  of  the  book 
of  Judges,  the  story  of  David  up  to  his  coronation  and  the 
pastoral  story  of  Ruth. 

THE    METHOD    OF  BIBLE  STORY-TELLING 

As  to  the  general  method,  Dr.  Richard  G.  Moulton, 
himself  a  fine  Bible  story-teller,  has  given  some  suggestive 
special  hints  as  to  the  way  to  tell  stories  from  the  Bible : 


126  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

"The  proper  preparation  of  the  story-teller  is  that  he 
should,  saturate  himself  with  the  Bible  story,  but  it  must  be 
story  itself,  not  story  and  history  mixed. 

"When  the  story  has  been  properly  studied  and  as- 
similated, then  the  freest  play  of  imagination  should  be 
used  in  the  rendering.  Like  the  actor,  the  story-teller  is 
the  translator,  with  the  translator's  double  fidelity — to  his 
original  and  to  his  audience.  The  question  is  not  of  trans- 
lating out  of  one  language  into  another.  The  question  is 
but  out  of  one  set  of  mental  habits  belonging  to  ancient  life 
into  another  set  of  habits  characterizing  the  modern  hear- 
ers who  are  to  be  impressed.  Greek  drama,  with  exquisite 
instinct,  realized  this  double  fidelity  in  its  institution  of 
the  chorus.  Theoretically,  a  Greek  chorus  is  a  portion  of 
the  supposed  audience  in  the  theater  transported  into  the 
age  and  garb  of  the  story  dramatized,  which  they  follow 
from  point  to  point  with  meditations  calculated  to  voice 
similar  meditations  on  the  part  of  those  watching  the 
representation  of  the  drama.  Every  teller  of  a  Bible  story 
must  be  his  own  chorusv  1no.vJng'  thmngli  thp  Beetles  of 
the  narrative  with  the  outlook  and  emotions  of  the  men 
or  the  children  of  to-day.^* 


THE    METHOD    OF    ADDITION 

Some  special  suggestions  may  be  helpful  as  to  method. 
The  first  is  as  to  the  method  of  addition.  It  is  often  helpful 
to  add  to  the  telling  of  a  Bible  story  details  as  tn  the 
thoughts  of  the  characters  in  connection  with  the  incidents 
which  are  told.  For  example,  in  the  beautiful  story  of 
Isaac  and  Rebekah,  it  would  interest  the  child  to  tell 
him  what  the  old  servant,  Eliezer,  was  probably  thinking^ 
ahouL  after  he  left  the  home  of  Abraham  and  went  forth 
on  his  long  journey  to  select  a  wife  for  his  master's  son. 
It  would  also  be  attractive  to  the  children  if  the  story- 
teller portrayed  the  thoughts  of  Rebekah  as  she  came  to 


How  TO  TELL  BIBLE  STORIES  127 

the  well  that  day  before  she  performed  her  pleasant  act 
of  courtesy  to  the  old  servant,  and  especially  as  to  the 
thoughts  which  coursed  through  her  mind  after  he  had 
made  the  proposal  of  marriage  in  behalf  of  his  master's 
son.  Then  it  would  be  particularly  attractive  to  consider 
the  thoughts  which  passed  through  the  mind  of  the  eager 
^Isaac  as_he_awaited  the  arrival  of  the  old_servant  with  his 
16ride.  The  addition  of  characters  to  a  narrative  often 
makes  a  story  more  vivid.  In  the  story  of  the  Good  Sa- 
maritan, for  example,  it  may  be  well  to*  give  to  the  Priest, 
the  Levite,  the  Samaritan  and  the  poor  fellow  who  was 
robbed,  each  a  family  with  children.  "How  many  children 
do  you  suppose  the.  Good  Samaritan  had  and  what  do  you 
suppose  were  their  names?"  is  a  good  question.  Mentally 
accepting  the  children's  suggestions,  the  story-teller  will 
begin  with  the  decision  of  the  man  who  was  later  robbed 
to  go  down  the  Jericho  road,  the  entreaties  of  his  wife 
and  children  not  to  take  the  dangerous  road,  his  replies 
and  his  affectionate  departure.  Similar  dialogues  in  the 
families  of  the  other  travelers  will  add  interest  to  the 
narrative  and  give  opportunity  for  the  selfish  Priest  and 
the  careless  Levite  to  speak  out  their  real  characters.  So 
the  conversation  at  the  inn  may  be  extended,  and  if  the 
dialogue  that  is  added  does  not  make  more  clear  the  inci- 
dents and  the  moral  purposes,  the  method  is  not  only  novel 
but  gives  force  to  the  verbal  story. 

Incidents  may  be  added,  but  with  caution,  to  certain 
Bible  stories,  and  should  be  those  which,  as  far  as  possible, 
we  really  get  from  the  Scriptures  themselves.  Failure 
here  is  easy.  The  story-teller-. tnay^^jec^me,  ^arjubu^or 
rambling,  or  he  may  so  overload  his  story  with  fictitious 
incidents  that  he  gives  a  different  or  wrong  impression. 
"Ben-Hur"  was  truly  a  powerful  and  convincing  narrative. 
It  adds  something  to  the  clearness  of  our  conception  of 
the  Roman  world  in  the  time  of  Jesus.  Possibly  it  has 
helped  some  readers  to  a  clearer  and  more  beautiful  con- 
ception of  the  character  of  the  Christ.  Most  historical 


128  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

novels,  however,  that  have  been  written  upon  sacred  themes 
are  untrue  even  to  the  life  which  they  endeavor  to  delineate 
and  obscure  the  character  and  work  of  the  sacred  charac- 
ters beneath  the  covering  of  a  sentimental  imaginativeness. 
In  a  few  cases  it  is  possible  to  continue  a  story  or  a  parable, 
particularly  if  it  carries  the  possibility  of  a  second  im- 
pressive lesson. 


THE    METHOD    OF    SUBTRACTION 

Subtraction  as  well  as  addition  is  a  useful  method  to 
apply  in  the  telling  of  Bible  stories.  Some  stories,  particu- 
larly in  the  Old  Testament,  do  not  contain  moral  lessons 
for  the  young.  Felix  Adler  says;  "Sour  milk  is  not  proper 
food  for  children,  nor  do  those  stories  afford  proper  moral 
food  in  which,  so  to  speak,  the  milk  of  kindness  has  turned 
sour."  The  attempted  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  the  story  of  Jael, 
the  killing  of  Agag,  are  instances  which  immediately  occur 
to  mind.  In  telling  the  story  of  Hagar,  it  is  possible  to 
exclude  what  is  repellent,  only  touching  the  picture  of  a 
mother's  love.  In  telling  the  story  of  David,  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  speak  in  detail  of  David's  sin  and  it  is  unwise  to 
carry  the  story  beyond  the  death  of  Absalom.  The  story 
of  Moses  is  in  great  part  unfit  for  children,  not  for  moral 
reasons  but  because  it  includes  motives  too  complex  and 
mature  to  be  within  their  comprehension.  The  childhood 
of  Moses  is  a  drama  with  which  children  have  been  en- 
tranced. 


CHANGING    THE    ORDER    OF    INCIDENTS 

It  sometimes  adds  force  to  the  Bible  story  to  change 
the  order  in  which  it  is  related  in  the  Scriptures.  This  has 
already  been  done  for  us  by  some  of  the  Biblical  writers, 
since  certain  incidents  in  the  Old  Testament  are  told  in 


How  TO  TELL  BIBLE  STORIES  129 

an  order  different  in  one  source  from  that  in  which  we 
find  them  in  another.  The  story  of  Mary  and  Martha  may 
begin,  if  we  choose,  with  the  beautiful  sacrificial  gift  of 
Mary,  working  back  to  the  circumstances  under  which 
Jesus  has  entered  Martha's  home.  The  story  of  Peter 
would  probably  be  given  in  chronological  order  but  must 
be  separated  out  from  the  greater  biographies  of  the  Christ. 
A  similar  process  is  necessary  in  giving  the  story  of  Saul. 


METHODS    OF    REALITY 

f\JL-*JL  -- 


Many  devices  are  at  hand  for  making  more  real  the^ 
characters  and  incidents  of  the  far-away  land  and  time  of 
tlie  Bible.  _Curios  from  Bible  lands,  pictures  of  Orientals 
in  costume  and  reproductions  nf  sarreH  paintings  are  always 
helpful.  No  device  is  more  useful  than  the  stereograph. 
The  stereograph  consists,  as  we  know,  of  two  photographs 
taken  by  two  cameras  set  at  about  the  distance  apart  of 
our  two  eyes.  The  result  is  that  the  third  dimension  is 
added  to  the  scene,  our  eyes  feel  around,  as  it  were,  the 
objects  and  the  people,  the  animals  and  the  foliage  stand 
out  in  the  most  vivid  way  from  their  backgrounds.  To 
most  children  such  scenes  appear  life-size,  since  the  eye 
sees  them  as  the  camera  does,  in  the  most  appropriate 
distance.  The  isolation  of  the  child's  eyes  within  the  hood 
of  the  stereoscope  enables  him  in  imagination  to  traverse 
instantly  the  leagues  between  his  home  and  the  Holy  Land, 
and  many  children  have,  at  least  for  a  brief  time,  actually 
the  sensation  of  being  in  Palestine.  This  gives  the  keenest 
and  most  realistic  sense  of  being  set  down  in  the  midst  of 
Bible  people  and  Bible  lands.  The  sand  table  is  a  helpful 
device  for  enabling  children  to  work  out  the  contour  ol 
which  they  have  already  seen  through  the 


stereoscope,  setting  miniature  people  and  objects  on  it  to 
realize  the  life  and  customs. 


130  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


BRINGING   THE    BIBLE    PEOPLE   INTO    PRES- 
ENT   DAY    LIFE 

A  helpful  way  to  make  a  Bible  story  real  is  to  put 
the  characters  into  the  child's  life. 

"Some  very  effective  tellers  of  Scripture  stories  fill 
in  details  of  modern  realism  with  slang  up  to  date.  I  have 
never  myself  felt  the  necessity  of  this;  but  it  is  a  fault 
in  the  right  direction.  The  exact  narrative  of  Scripture 
must  be  freely  handled ;  we  may  expand  where  the  original 
is  terse,  emphasize  clearly  what  the  original  takes  for 
granted,  alter  altogether  the  proportion  of  parts.  The  con- 
dition is  that  we  should  first  have  been  minutely  faithful 
in  our  study  of  the  story,  omitting  no  hint,  and  wresting 
nothing  out  of  proportion.  This  once  secured,  we  become 
free  agents  in  the  translation  of  what  has  been  learned 
into  terms  of  modern  thought." 

Earl  Barnes  found,  from  some  English  source,  the 
story  of  Moses  as  it  had  been  told  by  a  Cockney  boy.  We 
see  here  how  the  boy  instinctively  added  his  own  experience 
and  observations  and  gave  the  result,  which  is  good  in  its 
main  features  though  somewhat  absurd  in  some  of  the 
details,  such  as  "the  bulrushes  which  you  have  seen  on  the 
wall,"  and  "the  king's  daughter  going  in  bathing,"  which 
probably  came  from  some  Sunday  school  picture.  The  set- 
ting, however,  was  a  very  real  experience  of  his  own.  "The 
cold  grass"  is  a  delicious  transference  of  English  sod  to  the 
banks  of  the  Nile.  The  last  paragraph  is  right  out  of  the 
boy's  own  life.  "Now  little  boy  Moses  had  a  sister  about 
sixteen,  and  a  father  and  mother  which  was  Jews.  And 
Moseses  mother  couldnt  a  bare  to  drownd  her  little  boy,  so 
she  made  a  cradle  same  as  they  used  to  make  arks.  Then 
she  put  her  little  baby  in  this  here  cradle,  and  carried  it 
to  the  river,  and  put  on  the  water  amongst  some  bullrushes 
so  as  it  couldnt  float  down.  And  who  do  you  think  as  it 
was  that  used  to  sit  on  the  grass  all  day  long  watching  as  it 


How  TO  TELL  BIBLE  STORIES  131 

didnt  get  loose?  It  was  that  there  sister  Mirium  what  I 
said  he  had.  She  was  a  very  good  young  woman  an  did 
not  mind  the  cold  grass,  because  she  knew  as  she  was  in  the 
right,  and  that  the  King  would  be  perhaps  slain. 

"This  wicked  King  had  a  daughter,  as  you  would  think 
she  was.  She  used  to  go  out  bathing  same  as  boys,  only 
she  didnt  swim.  She  only  just  went  in  up  to  about  her 
knees  and  then  used  to  put  the  water  over  her  head  and 
down  her  body,  and  then  used  to  tell  the  other  women  and 
her  father  as  she  had  been  in.  The  women  could  not  see 
how  far  she  had  been  in,  because  of  the  bullrushes  which 
you  have  seen  on  the  wall. 

"One  morning  she  got  undresst  where  Mirium  was 
sitting  on  the  grass,  and  she  walked  straight  in  up  to  her 
knees,  to  where  the  cradle  was.  When  she  saw  him,  she 
took  him  up  in  her  arms,  and  run  back  to  the  bank  shout- 
ing out  as  she  had  found  a  baby  while  she  was  swimming. 
The  women  all  came  round,  and  Mirium  edged  in  among 
them.  The  lady  was  so  well  pleased  as  she  had  got  a  baby, 
that  she  didnt  get  dresst  till  she  had  settled  things.  But 
it  was  not  hers,  because  it  was  not  brought.  Only  found. 

"And  Mirium  said,  Tharoh's  daughter,  shall  I  go  and 
find  a  nurse  for  you  ?'  and  if  the  lady  didnt  go  and  say  yes 
right  off.  Then  Mirium  run  away  as  fast  as  you,  and  who 
do  you  think  she  fetched  for  a  nurse?  Moseses  mother, 
as  had  had  him  brought  to  her. 

"And  Pharoh's  daughter  said  unto  her,  'I  will  actshully 
give  you  wages  for  nursing  this  baby/  And  so  Moseses 
mother  nursed  her  own  little  baby  without  laughing,  fear 
she  should  be  found  out  and  not  get  good  wages." 

Dr.  Adler  tells  the  story  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  a  way 
which  is  somewhat  startling  and  yet  in  a  way  which  we 
must  acknowledge  is  good  story-telling.  "Adam  was  a  fine 
and  noble  looking  lad.  He  was  slender  and  well  built  and 
fleet  of  foot  as  a  young  deer.  Eve  was  beautiful  as  the 
dawn,  with  long  golden  tresses  and  blue  eyes  and  cheeks 
like  roses.  They  lived  in  the  loveliest  garden  you  have 


132  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

ever  heard  of."  He  speaks  of  their  relation  to  God  in  the 
following  beautiful  manner.  "But  the  children  were  not 
alone  in  that  garden;  their  Father  lived  with  them.  And 
every  morning  when  they  awoke  their  first  thought  was  to 
go  to  Him  and  to  look  up  into  His  mild,  kind  eyes  with 
loving  gladness;  and  every  evening  before  they  went  to 
sleep  He  would  bend  over  them.  And  once,  looking  at  a 
great  star  shining  through  the  branches,  Adam  said  to  Eve, 
'Our  Father's  eye  shines  just  like  that  star/  "  And  then 
he  goes  on  and  makes  the  story  that  of  real  children  obeying 
a  father's  love  and  reasonable  commands.  A  rather  in- 
genious method  of  having  Bible  characters  talk  to  children 
has  been  worked  out  in  a  volume  entitled  "The  Door  in  the 
Book,"  by  C.  Barnard,  published  by  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co. 
Joseph  and  David,  Isaiah  and  Paul  are  visited  by  the  author 
with  his  readers,  and  these  and  others  are  asked  to  tell  the 
stories  of  their  lives  to  the  children. 


THE    SELECTION    OF    BIBLE    STORIES 

The  question  arises  among  those  who  tell  Bible  stories 
frequently  as  to  the  order  in  which  they  had  better  be 
given.  Dr.  Adler  believes  in  adopting  a  chronological  ar- 
rangement. "It  is  expected,"  as  he  says,  ''that  the  Bible, 
as  they  grow  older,  will  be  given  more  comprehensive  study 
and  for  this  they  will  be  better  prepared  if  they  have  been 
acquainted  with  the  chronological  order  from  the  outset." 

On  the  other  hand,  many  people  prefer  telling  Bible 
stories  in  the  order  of  interest.  This  is  a  method  which 
is  being  more  and  more  adopted"  in  the  graded  classes  in 
the  Sunday  schools.  It  is,  of  course,  a  great  advantage  to 
reach  children  where  they  are  at  each  period  of  their  lives. 

Concerning  the  grading  and  use  of  Bible  stories  for 
purposes  of  moral  education,  we  have  our  wisest  word  from 
Mrs.  Houghton :  "First,  at  about  three,  the  story  in  its 
simplest  outline,  and  as  much  as  may  be  in  the  Bible  words. 


How  TO  TELL  BIBLE  STORIES  133 

Then  at  about  five  an  elementary  unfolding  of  its  spiritual 
meaning,  in  answer  to  the  child's  importunate  'Why  ?'  This 
is  to  be  followed  at  about  eight  by  careful  co-ordination  of 
the  story  with  the  child's  first  elementary  knowledge  of 
mythology  and  history.  A  year  or  two  later  the  co-ordina- 
tion of  these  stories  with  geography  and  elementary  science 
may  be  in  order,  and  not  very  much  later,  with  the  child's 
sense  of  language  as  illustrated  in  poetry  and  wonder  tales. 
At  about  twelve  or  thirteen  the  alert  young  mind,  expanded 
from  its  earliest  activity  by  ever  expanding  apprehension 
of  spiritual  truth,  never  having  been  confused  by  any  con- 
tradiction between  its  Biblical  and  its  secular  acquisitions, 
always  having  been  harmoniously  active  in  its  three  func- 
tions of  imagination,  emotion  and  will,  is  ready  for  the 
theological  and  ethical  interpretation  of  the  story,  in  what 
may  be  called  the  grammar  school  grade  of  these  interpre- 
tations, of  which  he  has  already  had  the  elementary  grade. 
His  more  advanced  historical  work  will  enable  him  to  put 
the  stories  in  their  proper  place  in  history,  and  his  studies 
in  the  classics  and  English  literature  to  appreciate  the  liter- 
ary character  of  the  Bible,  the  place  of  each  story  in  the 
history  of  literature,  its  oriental  diction  and  forms  of 
speech. 

"There  will  be  no  difficulty  if  this  method  has  been 
pursued  thus  far,  if  neither  the  child's  Bible  nor  his  religion 
has  been  kept  as  a  thing  apart,  unrelated  to  his  school  work 
or  his  weekday  life,  reserved  for  Sunday  or  forgotten  en- 
tirely— there  will  be  no  difficulty,  when  this  method  has 
been  pursued  until  his  fifteenth  or  sixteenth  year,  in  carrying 
it  farther,  and  relating  it  to  his  higher  study  of  ethics  and 
philosophy,  as  well  as  of  history  and  literature,  and  making 
it  an  illumination  of  both,  instead  of,  as  too  often  sadly 
happens,  a  stumbling-block  and  cause  of  blind  bewilder- 
ment." 

Still  another  order  for  telling  stories  is  to  relate  them 
in  connection  with  the  virtues  which  they  inculcate.  We, 
of  course,  do  this  instinctively  and  appropriately.  This 


134  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

method  is  to  be  advised  especially  in  the  home,  though  not 
to  the  superseding  of  the  other  two  methods  which  have 
been  mentioned.  A  list  is  given  in  Appendix  VI  of  Bible 
stories  in  relation  to  great  moral  problems  and  virtues. 
It  is  understood,  of  course,  that  in  some  of  these  stories 
elimination  or  adaptation  is  necessary  in  order  that  they 
may  bear  the  application  here  indicated. 


XIII 
STORIES  AND  SCHOOL 

"The  children  must  have  something  more  than  a  good  story; 
they  must  have  a  good  story-teller, — one  with  quick  sympathies ;  one 
who  loves  the  old  stories,  who  feels  the  pulse  of  humanity  throb- 
bing through  them  all ;  whose  voice  is  clear,  flexible,  interpretive ; 
whose  language  is  simple,  direct,  pictorial ;  who  enters  into  a  dra- 
matic situation;  who  has  a  keen  sense  of  humor;  who  is  willing 
to  sow  the  seed  and  let  it  develop  in  its  own  good  time." 

— Arnold  L.  Gesell. 

Something  was  said  in  the  first  chapter  about  the  edu- 
cational value  of  stories  in  general.  In  this  chapter  we 
wish  to  speak  of  their  special  value  in  school-mastering 
education. 


THE  STORY  AS  A  HELP  TO  ATTENTION 

The  story  helps  develop  the  power  of  attention.  It 
was  William  James  who  told  us  that  if  we  wish  to  insure 
the  interest  of  our  pupils,  there  is  only  one  way  to  do  it; 
and  that  is  to  make  certain  that  they  have  something  in 
their  minds  to  attend  with  when  we  begin  to  talk.  That 
something,  said  he,  "can  consist  in  nothing  but  a  previous 
lot  of  ideas  already  interesting  in  themselves."  Into  these 
we  must  dovetail  the  related  idea  which  we  want  to  pre- 
sent to  them.  Now  of  course  children  get  their  "previous 
lot  of  ideas"  from  many  sources,  chiefly  out  of  an  inter- 
esting home  life,  but  the  best  source  in  school  for  such 
ideas  will  be  stories  told  by  the  teacher.  In  stories  the 
teacher  can  present  a  greater  assortment  of  ideas  done  up 


136  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

in  attractive  packages  than  by  any  other  method  of  equal 
economy  and  effectiveness.  Professor  James  went  on  to 
show  that  voluntary  attention  is  intermittent,  it  comes  in 
beats.  The  aim  of  the  teacher  is  to  make  the  intervals 
between  the  beats  as  brief  as  possible.  This  he  may  do 
by  making  "the  subject  show  new  aspects  of  itself,"  and  es- 
pecially by  finding  and  furnishing  concrete  examples  of 
abstract  subjects.  Whenever  we  do  this,  by  an  illustration, 
a  real  instance,  we  are  applying  the  story-method. 

One  device  that  is  of  peculiar  value  in  prolonging  the 
periods  of  attention  is  suspense.  One  can  hardly  think 
of  any  way  of  producing  and  maintaining  interested  sus- 
pense that  is  as  good  as  the  well-told  story. 


THE  STORY  AS  A  HELP  TO  INTEREST 

Behind  the  constant  problem  of  classroom  attention 
is  the  larger  problem  of  the  attentive  attitude,  of  expectancy 
on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  of  a  real  desire  to  become  a  master. 
Education  consists  not  in  communicating  facts  to  a  child, 
but  in  communicating  power.  To  quote  Mr.  Lee  again : 
"All  that  real  teaching  is  for  is  to  say  to  a  man,  in  countless 
ways,  a  countless  'You  can.'  And  all  that  real  learning 
is  for  is  to  say  T  can.'  When  we  have  enough  T  cans/ 
there  will  be  a  great  society  or  nation."  Can  you  think 
of  any  better  way  to  make  a  child  say  'T  can"  than  through 
stories  ?  If  you  are  beginning  to  teach  a  child  a  new  science, 
for  instance,  which  will  be  the  better  way  to  begin,  to  order 
him  to  memorize  the  first  page  in  the  textbook  or  to  awaken 
in  him  a  love  for  the  subject?  Will  you  do  better  to  turn 
some  small  wheel  in  his  machinery  or  to  light  the  fire  in 
his  engine? 

A  teacher  was  once  upon  a  time  about  to  begin  a  class 
in  plane  geometry.  Noticing  that  the  textbooks  were — 
appropriately  no  doubt — bound  in  black,  he  decided  not  to 
show  them  the  first  day.  Instead,  he  opened  the  hour  with 


STORIES  AND  SCHOOL  137 

a  story,  a  story  about  some  hero  in  mathematics.  During 
the  period  he  made  a  sketch  upon  the  board  to  show  the 
class  something  the  hero  had  discovered,  how  to  get  the 
height  of  a  tree  by  its  shadow,  perhaps,  without  climbing  it. 
The  next  day  he  told  a  story  about  another  hero-mathema- 
tician, and  drew  another  sketch,  possibly  showing  how  this 
master  had  invented  a  way  to  get  the  area  of  a  school-yard 
without  needing  to  measure  off  every  square  foot.  Finally 
some  boy  raised  his  hand.  "Ain't  there  no  book  about  this, 
teacher;  ain't  there  any  way  we  could  get  to  know  how  to 
do  some  of  these  things  ourselves?"  With  apparent  re- 
luctance the  teacher  produced  the  textbooks  from  beneath 
his  desk.  The  pupils  fell  upon  them  with  avidity.  Some 
days  later,  when  some  pupil  had  made  a  peculiarly  neat 
demonstration  of  an  original  problem,  the  class  broke  into 
spontaneous  applause,  the  first  time  probably  there  had 
ever  been  applause  in  a  geometry  recitation.  Was  not  that 
good  teaching? 

A  group  of  men  was  once  standing  together,  and  each 
was  telling  the  kind  of  watch  he  carried.  "I  haven't  any 
watch,"  confessed  Thomas  A.  Edison,  who  was  among 
them.  "I  never  wanted  to  know  what  time  it  was."  Are 
we  making  that  kind  of  men  in  school  ?  Is  it  not  too  often 
a  fact  that  a  clock  is  the  most  conspicuous  object  in  the 
school  room,  what  the  altar  is  in  the  church,  to  which  the 
child  turns  as  faithfully  and  as  patiently  "as  the  sun- 
flower turns  on  her  god,  when  he  sets,  the  same  look  which 
she  turned  when  he  rose?" 

Someone  has  remarked  that  the  ordinary  school  di- 
ploma is  a  certificate  for  weariness,  a  testimonial  that  a 
child  has  been  consistently  bored.  Can  we  not  devise  some 
certificate  for  joy,  a  testimonial  that  a  child  has  regularly 
done  and  learned  what  he  has  liked  ?  Evidence  that  he  has 
achieved  something  that  he  glories  in?  Proof  that  he  has 
often  forgot  what  time  it  was  in  what  he  was  doing? 


138  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


THE   STORY  AS   A   HELP   TO   THINKING  AND 
EXPRESSION 

But  will  not  story-telling  make  children  flabby  and 
indefinite  in  their  thinking  ?  Gerald  Stanley  Lee  once  spoke 
of  education  as  "putting  a  nozzle  on  the  stream  of  con- 
sciousness." The  definition  is  not  a  bad  one.  Is  there  not 
danger  that  story-telling  will  be  another  addition  to  soft 
psychology  and  predigested  pedagogy?  Will  it  help  put 
the  nozzle  on  the  stream? 

It  will,  for  while  it  is  by  no  means  the  only  teaching 
method,  it  is  of  direct  help  in  almost  every  subject  in  the 
secondary  school  curriculum. 

Take  the  matter  of  verbal  expression.  A  child's  own 
story-telling  is  his  best  method  for  learning  to  speak  well, 
because  it  involves  both  his  feeling  and  his  imagination, 
with  a  minimum  of  self-consciousness.  And,  unlike  the 
stilted  "examples"  given  him  by  adults  or  the  encyclopedic 
summaries  which  he  finds  in  books  of  reference,  "the  oral 
story,"  as  Partridge  says,  "contains  better  than  any  other 
form  the  essentials  of  a  good  style."  In  a  less  degree  story- 
telling by  the  teacher  helps  the  young  pupil  toward  oral 
expression,  because,  as  Gesell  tells  us,  "although  he  says 
nothing  himself,  he  is  collecting  the  material  of  speech, 
storing  it  somewhere,  and  sometime  he  will  suddenly  sur- 
prise you  with  his  accumulated  possessions." 

Stories  help  children  to  adequate  and  forceful  expres- 
sion. In  the  case  of  the  foreign  child  who  must  be  taught 
English,  or  of  the  American  born  child  who  is  shy  and  so 
lacking  in  the  power  of  expression,  the  old  folk-tale,  with 
its  familiar  words  and  phrases,  teaches  the  child  to  speak. 
Encourage  the  child  to  tell  a  story  with  you.  This  brings 
success  in  increasing  his  vocabulary.  Stories  which  involve 
repetition,  and  thus  memorizing,  force  a  child  to  repeat 
phrases  and  to  understand  the  words  in  them.  Oftentimes 
the  phraseology  which  brings  the  story  to  a  climax  is  itself 


STORIES  AND  SCHOOL  139 

so  beautifully  phrased  that  it  cannot  be  told  adequately  ex- 
cept in  beautiful  language.  Some  story-writers  excel  in  the 
use  of  pure  and  virile  English.  Among  such  are  Laura  E. 
Richards,  Eugene  Field  and  Kipling,  and,  in  the  realm  of 
sacred  story-telling,  Dean  Hodges.  Hans  Andersen  was 
skilled  in  matchless  word  painting,  much  of  which  has  been 
preserved  in  the  best  translations. 


THE  STORY  AS  A  HELP  TO  LITERATURE 

Good  stories  are  a  help  in  bringing  literature  to  chil- 
dren. We  say  good  stories,  because  we  must  agree  with 
Gesell  that  "much  of  the  story-work  done  in  the  grades 
is  as  demoralizing  as  vaudeville  music ;  it  is  dissipating  and 
cheap."  The  stories  that  really  take  hold  are  so  simple 
and  direct  that  they  are  capable  of  being  put  into  an  out- 
line in  one  or  two  short  sentences.  And  this  is  true  of 
stories  that  are  literature,  from  Mother  Goose  to  Hans 
Andersen. 

"Stories  advertise  books,"  as  every  children's  librarian 
knows,  and  hence  the  establishment  of  story-hours  in  public 
libraries,  where  every  such  hour  closes  with  an  excited 
drawing  of  books  by  the  children,  with  the  consequent 
foundation  of  the  reading  habit. 

The  story  not  only  leads  a  child  to  books,  but,  para- 
doxically, it  makes  some  children  independent  of  books. 
"Men  whose  lives  are  their  own  dime  novels,"  says  Gerald 
Stanley  Lee,  "are  bored  by  printed  ones."  The  child  of 
imagination  who  is  getting  a  lot  out  of  life  every  day  does 
not  have  to  read  to  escape  boredom.  We  see  the  ex- 
planation here  of  this  curious  situation,  that  one  child  will 
be  led  through  stories  into  the  reading  of  books  and  another 
into  the  execution  of  certain  mechanical  projects.  The 
latter  may  never  become  a  reader. 


140  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


THE    STORY    AS    A    HELP   TO    WRITING   AND 
HISTORY 

Gesell  believes  that  the  story  is  a  better  introduction 
to  learning  to  write  than  more  formal  methods.  "Stories 
told  in  words  can  be  retold  by  chalk  or  crayon."  The 
teacher  will  then  have  the  children  label  their  drawings 
with  words  and  phrases,  and  their  words  with  drawings. 
"She  will  have  them  fill  out  their  sentences,  rebuslike,  with 
sketches;  and  will  allow  them  to  illustrate  in  their  own 
way  the  readers  which  they  will  make."  Thus  stories,  draw- 
ing and  writing  will  come  into  vital  connection  with  each 
other.  Children  will  write  compositions  too  in  comparative 
painlessness  if  they  are  encouraged  to  do  so  while  the  in- 
terest in  a  story  is  still  warm. 

The  story  is  an  excellent  introduction  to  history.  It 
helps  the  child  to  get  away  at  once  from  the  near  and  the 
trivial,  to  be  redeemed  from  the  petty  tyranny  of  dates,  to 
see  the  main  heroic  struggle  of  men  and  women  who  were 
a  people  rather  than  the  spectacular  struggle  in  war  of 
their  soldiers,  to  recognize  how  individuals  played  small 
parts  in  a  large  spirit,  and  to  be  inspired  by  what  men 
have  done,  for  his  own  present  and  future  duties  as  a  citi- 
zen. 


THE  STORY  AS  A  HELP  TO  NATURE  STUDY 

Stories  are  a  good  introduction  to  nature  study.  We 
have  already  learned  that  nature-myths  are  congenial  to 
children.  Some  of  them  are  better  interpretations  to  young 
children  of  natural  and  human  origins  than  any  others. 
No  scientist  has  succeeded  in  preparing  for  nursery  pur- 
poses a  better  account  of  creation  than  the  double  one  that 
is  presented  in  the  first  two  chapters  of  ,the  book  of  Genesis. 
The  story-approach  to  geography  is  on  the  whole  a  more 


STORIES  AND  SCHOOL  141 

scientific  as  well  as  a  more  memorable  one  than  that  of 
naming  the  capes  and  pointing  to  all  the  archipelagoes. 
There  is  no  doubt  some  peril  in  allegorizing  animal  life 
by  attributing  to  animals  human  traits  and  motives.  The 
"nature  fakir"  is  the  historical  novelist  of  the  animal  world ; 
he  confuses  by  mingling  fact  and  fancy.  But  where  the 
analogies  are  plainly  playful,  as  in  the  Bre'r  Rabbit  cycle, 
the  child  recognizes  that  he  is  in  the  field  of  literature  rather 
than  that  of  nature  study. 


THE    STORY   AS    A    SOCIAL    UNIFIER 

Randolph  S.  Bourne  has  recently  been  revisiting  the 
schoolroom  of  his  boyhood.  He  says  that  it  impressed 
him  chiefly  as  a  place  of  solitary  confinement.  The  children, 
though  sociable  and  friendly  outside,  were  here  segre- 
gated, isolated  from  each  other.  Since  the  chief  method 
of  learning  is  by  comparing  notes,  by  sharing  experience, 
it  seems  to  him  that  the  school  was  losing  its  principal  op- 
portunity. There  is  something  to  this.  Some  of  this  in- 
sulating may  be  necessary  to  the  teaching  of  the  indi- 
vidual; some  of  it  may  be  required  so  long  as  many  chil- 
dren are  taught  in  one  place  at  one  time  by  one  teacher. 
But  in  such  a  situation  a  story  would  be  an  antidote  to 
such  separation.  It  would  bring  the  teacher  and  all  her 
pupils  together  into  one  intellectual  and  social  experience. 
Further,  if  Epicurus  was  right  that  "Education  is  friends 
seeking  happiness  together,"  we  are  losing  a  mighty  dynamic 
of  learning  when  we  sacrifice  the  mutual  enthusiasm  of 
pupils  busy  in  a  common  task  of  investigation  or  mastery. 


THE   STORY   AS  A   HELP   TO   MORALS 

The  greatest  value  of  the  story  in  the  schoolroom,  as 
elsewhere,  is  its  moral  value.     Of  this  we  can  speak  here 


142  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

but  a  word,  since  Chapters  X  and  XI  discuss  the  matter 
so  fully.  Stories  establish  right  relationships  in  school: 
between  the  pupils  and  their  teacher,  as  they  learn  through 
these  windows  to  look  into  her  real  nature,  to  understand 
and  to  love  her;  they  aid  in  establishing  pleasant  relations 
between  the  pupils,  as  the  teacher,  in  the  guise  of  a  story, 
exposes  the  heart  of  some  situation  of  malice,  unkindliness 
or  snobbery,  or  pleads  for  co-operation,  helpfulness  and 
loyalty.  They  take  away  the  tension  out  of  a  difficult  and 
strained  situation;  they  give  rest  when  the  air  is  hot  or 
sultry,  the  hours  long,  the  strain  severe.  In  short,  they 
give  the  pupils  a  wider  and  saner  outlook,  help  make  a 
school  code,  and  strongly  affect  conduct. 

The  story  is  specific  in  value  for  special  types  of  chil- 
dren. It  encourages  and  brightens  the  dullard;  it  cheers 
the  pessimist  or  the  discouraged  pupil;  it  helps  the  intro- 
spective one  to  look  outside  himself ;  it  soothes  the  nervous 
child,  and  it  steadies  the  unstable. 

Not  the  least  important  result  of  story-telling  in  school 
is  its  reaction  upon  the  teacher.  Even  a  tired,  unloving 
though  conscientious  schoolmarm  can  appoint  a  time  and 
tell  stories,  but  only  a  self-poised,  cheerful,  kindly  teacher 
can  tell  them  delightfully,  and  doing  so  will  not  only  make 
her  more  poised,  cheerful  and  kindly,  but  will  stimulate  her 
to  keep  in  the  condition  and  mood  for  being  so  constantly. 
Like  mercy,  the  story  "blesseth  him  that  gives  and  him  that 
takes." 

A  list  of  story  books  conected  with  school  subjects  is 
given  in  Appendix  VII. 


XIV 
STORIES    IN    THE    HOME 

"She  would  begin  with  a  glow  in  her  eyes  and  tell  me  their  story. 
All  of  their  tales  she  knew,  by  the  hundreds  and  hundreds  she 

knew  them, 

Tales  of  the  beings  divine.  .   .    . 

Mark!  what  I  as  a  child  picked  up,  the  old  man  still  plays  with: 
Pictures  of  heroes  in   sound  that  lasts,  when  spoken,  forever, 
Images  fair  of  the  world  and  marvellous  legends  aforetime, 
All  of  them  living  in  me  as  they  fell  from  the  lips  of  my  mother." 

— Denton  T.  Snyder. 

Of  all  of  the  treasures  of  the  home,  none  is  more 
beautiful  than  stories.     They  have  many  precious  values. 


THE    COMFORT    AND    CONTENTMENT    OF 
STORIES 

Stones  give  both  joy  and  content.  We  have  spoken 
elsewhere  of  joy  as  a  kind  of  power.  There  is  a  sane, 
pure  joy  which  comes  from  the  mother's  stories,  both  in 
deepening  affection  and  in  cheering  the  disconsolate  little 
child.  Children  have  frequent  sorrows.  These  griefs  are 
often  baseless  and  their  causes  are  trifling  or  obscure. 
Some  of  them  can  be  cured  with  a  kiss,  a  few  of  them  with 
an  explanation;  but  best  of  all  remedies  usually  is  a  good 
story.  In  cheerful  stories,  especially  fairy  stories,  a  child's 
dreams  come  true.  One  can  turn  almost  at  random  to  any 
fairy  story  that  is  told  in  the  good  old-fashioned  way  and 
find  that  at  its  close,  the  child,  content  with  happiness,  has 
identified  himself  with  some  beautiful  fulfilled  dream.  Ed- 


144  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

mund  Leamy,  perhaps  the  sweetest  of  modern  fairy-tale 
tellers,  illustrates  this  in  a  fascinating  manner.  One  does 
not  need  to  read  his  story  of  "Princess  Finola  and  the 
Dwarf"  all  through,  but  only  to  turn  to  its  last  paragraph, 
to  realize  its  happiness-making  effect  upon  a  little  child. 
"The  knight  took  her  up  in  his  arms  and  kissed  her;  then 
he  lifted  her  on  to  the  horse,  and,  leaping  up  before  her, 
he  turned  towards  the  north,  to  the  palace  of  the  Red 
Branch  Knights,  and  as  they  rode  on  beneath  the  leafy 
trees  from  every  tree  the  birds  sang  out,  for  the  spell  of 
silence  over  the  lonely  moor  was  broken  forever."  One 
turns  to  his  most  famous  story,  "The  Golden  Spears,"  and 
reads  that  delightful  close  in  which  he  expresses  his  so 
frequently  expressed  love  for  "mothereen."  "And  Connla 
laid  aside  his  spear  and  shield,  and  took  off  his  golden  hel- 
met and  his  silken  cloak.  Then  he  caught  the  little  mother 
and  kissed  her,  and  lifted  her  up  until  she  was  as  high  as 
his  head.  And  said  he  : 

'  'Don't  you  know,  little  mother,  I'd  rather  have  you 
than  all  the  world.' 

"And  that  night,  when  they  were  sitting  down  by  the 
fire  together,  you  may  be  sure  that  in  the  whole  world  no 
people  were  half  as  happy  as  Nora,  Connla,  and  the  little 
mother." 

The  story  is  a  help  to  contentment  as  well  as  to  happi- 
ness. Children  often  become  restless  to  get  away  from 
home.  Psychologists  tell  us  that  there  are  at  least  two 
running-away  periods  in  the  life  of  the  little  child.  The 
prospect  of  a  story  is  a  great  inducement  to  a  child  to  stay 
at  home,  a  strong  force  in  impelling  him  to  return  home 
from  play.  It  is  often  possible,  through  the  suggestion  of  a 
story,  as  in  "The  Golden  Spears"  just  cited,  to  develop 
a  warm  love  for  the  home  and  the  home  folks.  A  good 
illustration  of  the  kind  of  story  which  would  persuade  a  lit- 
tle child  of  the  safety  and  beauty  of  home  life  is  "Little 
Hare  and  the  Red  Fire"  which  was  given  in  full  in  Chap- 
ter X. 


STORIES  IN  THE  HOME  145 

THE    COMPANIONSHIP    OF    STORIES 

The  story  strengthens  the  love  between  parent  and 
child.  "Nothing  else  so  intimately  binds  mother  and  child 
together  nor  so  fully  secures  the  confidence  of  the  child. 
When  they  enter  together  the  enchanted  realm  of  story- 
land,  mother  and  child  are  in  a  region  apart,  a  region  from 
which  others  are  excluded.  The  companionship  of  story- 
land  belongs  only  to  congenial  souls.  And  so  the  mother, 
by  means  of  stories,  becomes  the  intimate  companion,  the 
loving  and  wise  guide,  the  dearest  confidant  of  her  child." 

In  a  fragment  by  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  the  writer 
found  the  other  evening  a  pretty  incident  of  his  visit,  when 
a  young  man,  to  Cockermouth  in  the  Lake  Country.  A 
happy-minded  hatmaker,  who  "had  little  things  in  his  past 
life  that  gave  him  great  pleasure  to  recall,"  loaned  him  a 
raft  which  he  had  afloat  on  the  river  "in  order  that  I  might 
be  able  to  look  back,  in  after  years,  and  get  great  pleasure 
in  the  recollection."  Stevenson  then  discusses  whether  it  is 
possible  thus  to  manufacture  recollections  for  young  people 
in  advance.  He  thinks  on  the  whole,  Not  so,  and  yet  almost 
proves  the  contrary  by  confessing  that  he  wants  a  happy- 
minded  hatmaker  "placed  here  and  there  at  ugly  corners 
of  my  life's  wayside,  preaching  his  gospel  of  quiet  and  con- 
tentment." If  in  any  way  it  is  possible  to  make  recollec- 
tions for  our  children  that  shall,  like  laid-up  roseleaves,  be 
opened  some  later  year  with  fragrance,  I  can  think  of  no 
surer  means  than  by  stories ;  and  if  the  story  be  forgotten, 
I  cannot  but  believe  that  the  one  who  told  them  will  be 
remembered  and  longed  for  hereafter,  just  because  he 
wished  something  beautiful  for  the  future. 

THE    IMAGINATIVENESS    OF    STORIES 

The  story  in  the  home  is  a  wonderful  help  in  develop- 
ing the  child's  imaginativeness.  Some  of  us  dimly  remem- 


146  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

her  how,  when  we  were  children,  we  enveloped  almost  every 
nook  and  corner  of  the  home  and  grounds  in  the  atmosphere 
of  fancy.  The  grown-up  people  were,  as  Kenneth  Grahame 
remembers  them,  Olympians  who,  "having  absolute  license 
to  indulge  in  the  pleasures  of  life,  could  get  no  good  of 
them."  Certain  corners  in  the  garden  or  certain  rooms  in 
the  house  were  haunted  and  all  darkness  was  the  abiding 
place  of  terrors.  The  author  remembers  a  closet  irfhis 
own  home  when  he  was  a  child  which  was  entered  by  two 
doors  and  which  thus  became  a  mysterious  secret  passage, 
unfathomed  by  the  neighbors*  children,  from  one  part  of  the 
house  to  another.  He  had  also  persuaded  himself,  by  knock- 
ing on  the  walls,  that  there  was  an  unaccounted  for  space 
between  two  bedrooms  which  he  was  certain  was  a  secret 
room  to  be  entered  through  a  hidden  panel.  The  hidden 
panel,  however,  was  never  discovered.  A  chestnut  cabinet 
was  minutely  inspected  because  he  was  certain  that  behind 
some  of  its  pigeon  holes  and  softly  sliding  drawers  there 
was  a  spring,  a  hidden  drawer  and  treasure  trove.  Stories, 
indeed,  encourage  children  thus  to  make  mysterious  and 
beautiful  the  house  of  their  habitation.  They  gild  com- 
panions with  glory  and  add  to  uninteresting  places  a  con- 
stant enjoyment.  In  thus  idealizing  people,  the  child  gains 
some  reverence  for  humanity  and  is  induced  to  look  for  the 
sweeter  manners  and  finer  virtues  of  which  he  has  been  told 
in  the  heroes  of  romance.  What  child,  for  example,  could 
be  told  of  the  Nicolete  of  medieval  song-story  without 
discovering  unexpected  beauty  in  a  hitherto  prosaic  sister, 
and  indeed  in  all  womanhood? 

"Her  locks  were  yellow  and  curled,  her  eyes  blue  and 
smiling,  her  face  featly  fashioned,  the  nose  high  and  fairly 
set,  the  lips  more  red  than  cherry  or  rose  in  time  of  sum- 
mer, her  teeth  white  and  small ;  so  slim  was  she  in  the 
waist  that  your  two  hands  might  have  clipped  her,  and 
the  daisy  flowers  that  brake  beneath  her  as  she  went  tiptoe 
and  that  bent  above  her  instep  seemed  black  against  her 
feet,  so  white  was  the  maiden." 


STORIES  IN  THE  HOME  147 

And  also  dark  places  and  difficult  situations  are  robbed 
of  their  terrors  and  their  dread  for  the  child  who  has 
learned  to  become  used  to  conquest  through  the  habit  of 
fairy  tales.  Life  itself  becomes  not  only  enjoyable  but 
full  of  ardor  and  tranquillity  if  it  is  seen  imaginatively. 
"No  one,"  said  David  Starr  Jordan  once,  "is  really  miser- 
able who  has  not  tried  to  cheapen  life."  It  sometimes  seems 
as  if  some  parents  who  never  tell  stories  and  whose  con- 
versation consists  chiefly  in  complaints  about  the  weather, 
their  neighbors  or  the  high  cost  of  living,  have  deliberately 
endeavored  to  cheapen  life.  The  art  of  the  great  masters 
is  that  of  enhancing  life,  and  the  imaginative  mother  who 
has  insisted  upon  making  life  a  song,  learns  how  to  set  her 
children's  lives  to  music. 


THE   STORY    HELPS    MORE   AT   HOME  THAN 
IN    SCHOOL 

All  that  has  been  said  about  the  educational  value  of 
the  story  in  the  school  is  true  of  the  home,  and  more. 
The  story  is  more  potent  in  the  home  than  in  the  school 
because  it  can  always  be  especially  chosen  to  suit  the  indi- 
vidual child,  while  necessarily  the  story  told  in  school  must 
be  selected  because  of  its  supposed  general  interest. 

In  school,  the  teacher  has  to  awaken  interest  before 
starting  to  tell  any  story.  In  the  home,  the  mother  can  seize 
the  moment  when  interest  exists  and  take  advantage  of  it. 

In  school  there  is  very  little  opportunity  for  children 
to  talk.  In  the  home  they  talk  all  the  time.  In  fact,  as 
Mrs.  Fisher  says :  "In  undertaking  to  give  a  child  a  lan- 
guage, a  school  really  undertakes  an  enterprise  for  which 
it  is  not  fitted.  Language  can  only  be  acquired  by  living 
with  and  in  it.  A  child's  arithmetic  reflects  his  teacher, 
but  his  speech  reflects  his  mother." 

The  best  opportunity  which  a  child  ever  has  to  learn  to 
express  himself  is  when  he  tells  the  story  of  the  day.  Al- 


148  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

though  to  us  such  narratives  are  often  tiresome  and  we 
foolishly  act  inattentive  and  restless  during  their  repetition, 
yet,  as  Mrs.  Fisher  says,  with  very  slight  direction  the 
child's  story  of  his  play  may  be  coherent,  sequential,  vivid 
and  accurate.  In  such  a  story,  we  have  three  valuable  ele- 
ments :  the  subject  matter  wholly  within  the  child's  grasp, 
the  most  intense  interest,  a  favorable  audience. 


THE    STORY    AND    HOME    READING 

We  have  spoken  of  the  relation  of  story-telling  to  the 
reading  of  books.  The  school  teacher  is  limited  in  her 
choice  of  books  either  to  supplementary  reading  or  to  the 
volumes  which  she  feels  sure  are  within  the  reach  of  the 
comprehension  of  nearly  all  her  pupils.  The  mother,  how- 
ever, deals  only  with  the  individual.  She  may  have  a  pre- 
cocious child  who  is  ready  for  books  far  beyond  her  years 
or  she  may  have  a  backward  child  or  a  restless  child  who 
does  not  like  to  read,  to  whom  she  would  give  just  the  right 
access  to  books.  When  a  story-book  has  come  into  the 
home  which  the  mother  suspects  to  be  a  little  beyond  the 
child's  comprehension,  the  child's  present  tastes,  it  is  often 
well  not  to  read  it  at  once  to  the  child  or  to  encourage  s 
him  to  read  it  by  himself,  but  to  tell  the  most  attractive  por-  * 
tions  of  it  in  advance.  Then  the  child  will  plunge  with 
eager  curiosity  into  the  book  itself. 


THE    STORY    AND    HOME    HANDICRAFT 

The  mother  may  also  supplement  and  encourage  the 
love  of  reading  by  various  simple  methods  of  handicraft. 
It  is  good  to  encourage  children  to  make  scrap  books  of 
favorite  stories  and  pictures  which  they  find  in  newspapers 
and  magazines.  She  may  use  the  interest  in  postage  stamps 
or  in  the  new  paster  stamps  to  interest  the  child  in  the 


STORIES  IN  THE  HOME  149 

stories  with  which  they  are  connected.  She  may  even  be 
able  to  go  so  far  as  to  get  them  to  make  story-books  of 
their  own  in  which  they  rewrite  or  illustrate  the  favorite 
stories  which  she  has  told  them;  collections  brought  home 
from  the  woods  would  be  also  suggestive  of  nature — nuts 
and  berries,  seeds  and  seed  pods,  cocoons  and  bird  nests, 
feathers  and  flowers. 


THE    STORY    AND    HOME    DISCIPLINE 

The  story  is  useful  in  the  home  for  purposes  of  dis- 
cipline. Surely  the  child  is  more  likely  to  be  spontaneously 
obedient  who  has  been  in  the  habit  of  rinding  obedience 
beautiful  in  stories.  He  is  more  sure  to  be  self-controlled 
if  he  has  listened  to  many  stories  of  heroes.  There  are 
certain  special  situations  for  which  a  story  has  definite 
value.  Many  a  childish  task  is  robbed  of  its  tediousness  by 
the  telling  of  a  story  during  its  progress,  or  as  a  reward 
when  the  work  is  finished.  Many  a  desolate  hour,  on  a 
rainy  day  or  after  some  other  disappointment,  may  be  made 
happy  by  a  jolly  tale.  Many  a  misunderstanding  may  be 
made  right  or  an  explanation  pungent  by  means  of  the  com- 
munion of  spirit  which  arises  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  happy 
understanding.  An  apology  becomes  unnecessary  when 
two  have  laughed  together. 


THE    NATURALNESS    OF    HOME    STORY- 
TELLING 

The  naturalness  of  the  mother's  story-telling  is  one  of 
the  secrets  of  its  effectiveness.  She  need  not  wait,  as  must 
the  school  teacher,  for  a  special  story-period.  Her  story- 
telling is  most  delightful  when  it  does  not  come  by  appoint- 
ment. She  strikes  no  pose,  she  has  no  gestures,  needs  no 
oratory,  is  not  removed  by  distance.  Not  only  the  mother, 


150  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

but  the  guest  in  the  home,  is  an  effective  and  natural  story- 
teller. Often  a  curmudgeon  of  an  uncle  or  a  gorgon  of  an 
aunt  will  unexpectedly  soften  at  the  interest  of  the  child 
and  pour  forth  from  a  long-closed  heart  fascinating  reminis- 
cences of  a  far  distant  childhood.  Nothing  can  be  more 
flattering  to  one  who  has  thus  come  to  think  of  middle 
age  as  a  burden  than  to  find  how  enthusiastically  young 
folks  respect  his  most  unpretentious  efforts  at  story-telling. 
How  eager  they  are  to  go  back  with  him  along  the  almost 
forgotten  paths  of  youth !  How  undeservedly  popular  are 
his  elsewhere  unappreciated  narratives!  Because  of  their 
infrequency  and  freshness,  the  stories  told  by  a  transient 
guest  have  an  unexpectedly  large  influence  in  children's 
lives. 

STORIES    AT    BED-TIME 

Above  all  seasons,  bed-time,  or  at  least  evening  time, 
seums  most  sacred  to  stories.  The  close  of  the  story  is  usu- 
ally itself  a  cadence.  It  shuts  softly  like  the  glory  of  the 
evening  star.  It  breathes  forth  calm  as  do  the  dying  breezes 
at  the  close  of  the  day.  Let  us  instance  Edmund  Leamy 
again  and  note  how  even  the  melody  of  the  final  words  of 
the  story  of  "The  Enchanted  Cave"  must  give  rest  and  satis- 
faction to  the  heart  of  the  child. 

"And  Cuglas  never  returned  to  the  fair  hills  of  Erin, 
and  ages  passed  away  since  the  morning  he  followed  the 
hounds  into  the  fatal  cave,  but  his  story  was  remembered 
by  the  firesides,  and  sometimes,  even  yet,  the  herdboy 
ws.tching  his  cattle  in  the  fields  hears  the  tuneful  cry  of 
hounds,  and  follows  it  till  it  leads  him  to  a  darksome  cave, 
and  as  fearfully  he  listens  to  the  sound  becoming  fainter 
and  fainter  he  hears  the  clatter  of  hoofs  over  the  stony 
floor,  and  to  this  day  the  cave  bears  the  name  of  the  prince 
who  entered  it  never  to  return." 

The  story  is  the  cadence  of  the  day.  It  lifts  the  re- 
unions of  the  supper  table  to  a  higher  level.  It  explains 


STORIES  IN  THE  HOME  151 

the  day's  misunderstandings.  It  is  the  mutual  expression 
of  common  loves  and  common  cares.  It  voices  aspirations 
as  truly  as  a  hymn.  It  sends  the  child,  unwilling  to  depart, 
with  a  smile  to  bed,  and  it  leaves  its  echoes  even  after  they 
sleep.  In  one  home  which  the  writer  knows  the  parents 
go  around  to  see  that  the  lads  are  safe  for  the  night.  The 
oldest  has  pinned  a  picture  of  Giant  Grim  out  of  "Pilgrim's 
Progress"  on  his  door  as  a  guardian,  and  sleeps  uneasily, 
with  his  percussion-cap  pistol  in  his  grasp.  In  the  next 
room  his  younger  brother  still  wears  his  baseball  cap  on  his 
head,  while  incongruously  clasping  his  doll  to  his  breast. 
The  bed  of  the  youngest  is  empty.  He  is  found  on  the  floor 
•nearby,  stretched  out  in  calm  repose,  with  stains  on  his 
cheeks  that  speak  of  ginger  cookies,  and  an  odor  of  sanctity 
that  suggests  salt  codfish. 


XV 
ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING 

"I  would  rather  be  the  children's  story-teller  than  the  queen's 
favorite   or  the   king's   counsellor." — Kate   Douglas   Wiggin. 

Let  us  now  have  something  to  say  about  organized 
story-telling,  under  the  following  heads : 

The  Story-Hour. 

The  Story-League. 

The  Story-Class. 

By  the  Story-Hour  is  meant  a  regular  appointment,  in  a 
library  or  elsewhere,  with  children,  when  stories  are  to  be 
told,  either  by  a  volunteer  or  a  professional.  By  a  Story- 
League  is  meant  a  club  of  adults  who  meet  periodically 
to  practice  story-telling,  for  mutual  enjoyment  and  perhaps 
with  some  thought  of  telling  stories  to  children  later.  By 
a  Story-Class  is  meant  a  group  of  adults  who  are  being 
trained  by  an  expert  for  story-telling. 


THE    STORY-HOUR    IN    LIBRARIES 

Story-telling  has  had  a  large  development  in  connec- 
tion with  public  libraries.  The  enormous  outreach  of  such 
story-telling  is  indicated  by  the  single  fact  that  81,000 
children  listened  to  library  story-tellers  in  the  city  of  Cleve- 
land alone  in  1909. 

Library  story-telling  has  a  specific  purpose.  That  pur- 
pose, as  stated  by  Miss  Engle  of  the  Philadelphia  Free 
Library,  is  to  bring  children  into  contact  with  the  best 

152 


ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING  153 

books.  The  librarian  story-teller  does  not  deny  that  she 
is  a  joy-maker;  she  would  not  flinch  from  being  a  moralist; 
but  her  duty  is  to  the  particular  organization  to  which  she 
belongs,  and  since  the  function  of  that  organization  is  to 
get  books  read,  her  work  as  a  story-teller  is  to  establish  in 
young  people  the  reading  habit.  In  order  to  do  this  well 
she  is  not  so  anxious  to  have  a  mob  of  children  who  are 
present  because  this  chances  to  be  the  best  excitement 
available  at  the  moment  as  to  gather  a'  group  who  appreciate 
the  privilege  and  whom  she  can  assemble  frequently  enough 
and  in  close  enough  relation  to  the  library  to  bring  them 
and  the  books  together. 

A  library  story-teller  should  be  sharp  to  discover 
whether  the  children  whom  the  teacher  sends  her  are  those 
who  really  need  stories  the  most.  Where  story-telling  in 
the  library  is  popular,  tickets  of  admission  are  sometimes 
given  out  to  the  children  through  the  schools.  It  is  very 
natural  for  teachers  to  use  them  as  rewards  of  merit,  with 
the  result  that  the  best-behaved  children,  those  who  read 
and  study  most,  those  who  come  from  homes  where  stories 
are  freely  told,  fill  the  library,  while  those  who  need  to 
learn  to  love  to  read  and  to  have  their  imaginations  and 
ambitions  awakened  are  left  out.  The  audiences  that 
come  are  orderly,  attentive  and  appreciative  because  they 
are  prepared  audiences,  but  they  are  not  inspiring  and  they 
are  a  waste  of  time  to  a  true  story-teller. 

The  pleasure  of  telling  stories  and  the  fascination  of 
listening  is  such  that  the  eager  librarian  sometimes  tells 
stories  when  it  hardly  seems  necessary  to  do  so.  Why, 
for  instance,  should  a  library  appoint  a  regular  Saturday 
story-hour  in  a  city  where  children  hear  stories  regularly 
in  school  every  other  week  day  ?  Might  it  not  be  a  better 
use  of  the  librarian's  time  to  organize  on  Saturday  a  class 
in  story-telling  for  the  school  teachers?  Wouldn't  the  li- 
brarian's story-matter  actually  reach  more  children  with 
stories  in  this  way  than  through  the  small  number  of  young 
people  who  could  actually  crowd  the  children's  room? 


154  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

There  should  at  least  be,  as  there  already  is  in  some  cities, 
an  exchange  of  story-programs  between  teachers  and  chil- 
dren's librarians,  so  that  they  will  not  duplicate  each  other's 
work.  Yet  usually  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  so  valuable 
a  means  as  story-telling  both  in  the  library  and  the  school. 
And  this  is  so  because  the  teacher  and  the  librarian  are 
telling  stories  for  different  purposes.  The  teacher  tells 
stories  for  their  social  and  moral  effect  in  the  school  life ; 
the  librarian  tells  them  in  order  to  bring  children  and  good 
books  together. 

Some  library  story-tellers  rush  in  enthusiastically  where 
angels  might  fear  to  tread.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
it  is  sometimes  more  difficult  to  stop  a  story-hour  than  it  is 
to  start  one.  In  a  small  city  where  the  library  force  is 
small,  a  proposition  for  regular  story-telling  should  wait 
until  at  least  three  difficulties  are  disposed  of :  first,  the  fact 
that  it  must  necessarily  take  considerable  regular  time  on 
the  part  of  somebody  to  prepare  and  tell  stories;  second, 
that  definite  and  adequate  arrangements  must  be  made  upon 
every  occasion  for  taking  care  of  the  children  comfortably 
without  absolutely  shutting  up  the  rest  of  the  library ;  third, 
that  in  order  to  do  this  an  extra  assistant  is  usually  abso- 
lutely necessary  during  the  time  of  the  story-hour. 

Miss  Mary  Conover  has  for  many  years  done  a  beauti- 
ful work  in  most  crowded  and  unpleasant  surroundings  in 
the  Detroit  central  library,  maintaining  there  for  a  long 
time  a  story-hour  almost  literally  in  "the  dens  and  caves  of 
the  earth."  It  was  necessary  that  the  stories  should  be  told 
while  the  children's  room  was  full  of  readers  and  even  of 
persons  drawing  books.  There  was,  however,  as  she  con- 
fesses, one  advantage.  It  became  necessary  to  establish 
there  habits  of  courteous  attention  on  the  part  of  all  in  the 
room,  old  and  young.  This  helped  in  solving  other  prob- 
lems in  the  administration  of  their  department.  The  con- 
sideration thus  evoked  seemed  to  spread  over  into  the  care 
of  the  books  and  relations  toward  the  children  and  the  li- 
brarians. Under  such  circumstances,  attention  could  be 


ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING  155 

held  in  the  crowded  atmosphere  for  not  more  than  twenty 
minutes.  It  was  also  necessary  to  concede  the  presence 
of  many  grown  persons,  but,  as  Miss  Conover  cheerily  re- 
members, "I  fancy  olden  story-tellers  had  a  very  miscel- 
laneous group  before  them  sometimes." 

The  library  story-hour  sometimes  fulfils  a  function  of 
peculiar  value.  The  three  following  incidents  are  typical. 

In  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  it  was  found  that  the  girls 
would  read  only  the  most  pernicious  fiction.  The  Girls' 
Romance  Club  was  organized  in  the  public  library  for  the 
sake  of  finding  an  antidote  to  this  disease.  The  result  was 
most  encouraging.  A  unique  and  encouraging  fact  is  re- 
ported in  Providence,  R.  L,  where  the  voting  booths,  else- 
where forlorn  and  neglected  except  for  one  or  two  days  of 
the  year,  are  being  used  for  story-telling.  In  Boston,  stories 
are  told  by  the  visitors  in  its  famous  home  library  system 
whenever  a  fresh  parcel  of  books  is  brought  by  a  visitor 
to  a  home.  There  are  sixty  such  centers  in  Boston  close  to 
the  people  where  such  stories  are  regularly  told. 


THE    STORY-HOUR    ON    THE    PLAYGROUND 

E.  B.  DeGroot,  one  of  our  best  known  authorities  in 
play,  concedes  that  "the  only  passive  occupation  that  should 
be  given  equal  place  with  the  other  occupations"  on  the 
playground  is  story-telling.  "The  place  of  the  story  here," 
he  continues,  "is  definite,  and  comparable  with  any  first-class 
activity." 

The  following  information  concerning  playground 
story-telling  is  furnished  the  writer  by  the  Playground 
and  Recreation  Association  of  America. 

Most  of  the  playgrounds  tell  stories  quite  informally 
between  active  games,  when  the  children  are  too  warm  or 
too  tired  to  play,  during  sudden  summer  showers,  or  at 
other  opportune  times.  Probably  every  play  leader  ought 
to  be  able  to  tell  a  story  fairly  well.  In  Pittsburgh,  where 


156  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

the  regular  weekly  story-hour  is  conducted  by  trained  chil- 
dren's librarians,  sent  from  the  Carnegie  Library,  there  is 
also  another  period  during  the  daily  assembly  at  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning  or  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  various 
play  leaders  who  are  willing  tell  one  or  more  stories  to  the 
whole  assembly,  often  five  or  six  hundred  children.  There 
is  somewhat  the  same  value  in  this  common  story-hour  for 
big  and  little  that  there  is  in  choral  singing.  But  there 
should  also  be  stories  in  smaller  groups  where  the  play 
leader  may  definitely  plan  stories  that  will  meet  the  moral 
or  emotional  needs  of  the  group  in  a  way  that  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  do  with  the  larger  group. 

On  many  playgrounds  the  children  are  asked  to  retell 
the  story  told  the  day  before  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
didn't  hear  it  or  in  some  cases  individual  children  are  made 
responsible  for  a  story  themselves  on  certain  days.  Always 
when  this  is  done,  the  sharing  motive  should  be  emphasized. 
Someone  has  said  the  greatest  enemies  to  social  efficiency 
are  shyness  and  bumptiousness,  and  the  public  schools  are 
past  masters  at  the  development  of  these  qualities !  Let  us 
look  out  that  the  public  playgrounds  come  not  under  a  like 
indictment.  Here  is  one  great  opportunity  to  repress  the 
bumptious  and  help  the  shy  to  express,  for  if  the  motive 
be  strongly  emphasized — not  to  show  off  but  to  share — 
and  a  premium  is  always  placed  on  "doing  it  so  the  other 
children  will  enjoy  it" — like  magic  the  artificiality  of  the 
over-bright  and  the  timidity  of  the  repressed  melt  away 
and  a  child-like  joy  in  sharing  adds  to  the  charm  of  the 
story. 

In  Chicago  and  in  Portland,  Oregon,  several  times  na- 
tional holidays  have  been  celebrated  by  sending  story-tellers 
to  various  spots  in  the  parks  and  having  stories  appropriate 
to  the  day  told  to  the  groups  which  spontaneously  gather. 
And  it  is  never  recorded  that  they  lacked  an  audience. 
In  Reading,  Pa.,  the  beginning  of  the  preparation  for  the 
festival  of  "The  Pied  Piper"  consisted  of  the  telling  of  the 
story  through  a  megaphone  to  all  that  great  throng  which 


ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING  157 

gathers  on  the  cement-covered  city  reservoir  on  a  summer's 
evening. 


THE   STORY-HOUR   IN   THE    CLUB   FOR 
STREET    BOYS 

In  clubs  for  street  boys  story-telling  has  for  many 
years  been  a  highly  prized  method  of  work. 

Mr.  Frank  S.  Mason,  founder  and  for  many  years 
active  head  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Boys'  Club  in  the  Charles- 
town  District  of  Boston,  "brings  important  testimony  con- 
cerning the  real  value  of  story-telling  to  newsboys :  "I  am 
free  to  say  that  when  we  first  instituted  this  it  was  my  idea 
that  the  great  good  that  would  come  out  of  it  would  be  the 
bringing  together  of  the  boys  and  a  nice  woman  who  would 
have  the  power  to  win  and  charm  them  through  this  means 
of  getting  their  interest ;  but,  like  a  great  many  other  things 
that  finite  minds  conceive,  that  was  one  of  the  smallest 
benefits.  The  great  good,  as  I  see  it,  is  in  the  opening  up 
of  the  imagination,  and  the  getting  away  of  the  boy  from 
merely  speculating  or  passing  judgment  on  concrete  things, 
to  entering  into  the  region  of  the  unexplored  and  unknown. 
In  other  words,  we  have  found  the  boy  capable  of  saving 
himself  through  this  means  just  as  much  as  through  the 
carpentry  classes  and  through  his  games  and  play." 

Mr.  Mason  does  not  deny  that  the  moral  influence 
of  the  good  woman  was  effective.  In  another  communica- 
tion to  the  writer  this  was  strongly  stated,  but  the  two  con- 
victions that  surprised  him  were  noteworthy:  the  response 
of  the  city  boy  in  a  starved  environment  to  the  stimulation 
of  his  imagination,  and  the  self-saving  power  of  his  liberated 
life. 

Miss  Cara  W.  Sprague,  who  was  for  several  years  the 
story-teller  in  Mr.  Mason's  club,  found  some  rather  sur- 
prising tests  in  her  experience  in  telling  stories  to  these 
newsboys.  "It  has  been  a  surprising  fact  to  me  to  find  that 


158  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

again  and  again  the  boys  who  at  first  turned  up  their  noses 
at  the  idea  of  'fish'  tales  are  often  most  persistent  in  de- 
manding giant  and  witch-tales  in  a  very  little  while.  Boys 
from  twelve  to  sixteen  who  have  tumbled  up  somehow 
without  Mother  Goose  or  Cinderella  can  safely  stand  many 
and  many  a  fantastic  tale  to  try  to  make  up  in  some  small 
degree  for  some  of  their  precious  lost  time.  I  wonder,  too, 
if  you  will  be  surprised  to  hear  that  to  the  boys  here  (at 
the  Lyman  School  in  Westboro,  Mass.),  in  spite  of  the 
craving  for  exciting  tales,  two  of  their  favorites  are  quiet 
little  stories  about — of  all  things  in  the  world — a  little 
girl!  The  effeminate  person,  die  namby-pamby  sort,  is 
termed  a  'Tessie.'  I  was  afraid  both  of  these  stories  might 
be  termed  'little  Tessie'  stories,  but  they  have  been  ex- 
ceedingly popular." 

What  do  story-tellers  think  of  this  opinion  of  Miss 
Sprague's?  "I  tell  much  of  my  story  with  sprinklings  of 
the  boys'  own  language.  I  may  be  very  shocking,  because 
,  I  am  given  to  the  use  of  slang  myself,  but  I  can't  help  feel- 
ing that  (as  I  can  use  it  naturally)  'the  prince'  makes  a 
much  more  vivid  impression  because  he  says  (apropos  of 
the  fight  with  two  fierce  wild  boars),  'Now  you  take  the 
little  fellow  and  leave  the  big  guy  to  me.'  Maybe  I  am 
absolutely  wrong,  but  I  feel  very  thoroughly  that  the  boys 
are  much  more  apt  to  retain  other  language  and  to  assimilate 
new  and  elegant  phrases  (coming  in  frequently  as  they  so 
often  do)  if  there  are  occasionally  more  stepping  stones." 

On  the  contrary  Miss  Caroline  M.  Hewins  of  the 
Hartford  Public  Library  reminds  the  writer  that  Miss 
Faith  Collins,  who  for  years  has  told  stories  to  newsboys 
in  the  Good  Will  Club  of  that  city,  "has  generations  of 
scholarly  ancestry  behind  her,  and  has  all  her  life  been  an 
omnivorous  reader  of  romance  and  folklore.  Her  manner  is 
so  quiet  when  story-telling  that  it  is  hard  to  understand 
how  she  holds  the  attention  of  boys,  but  I  know  that  she 
does  from  the  books  that  they  ask  for  from  the  library." 
A  librarian  would  thoroughly  approve  of  Miss  Collins,  but 


ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING  159 

the  superintendent  of  a  club  for  street  boys,  while  he  too 
would  approve  of  Miss  Collins,  would  think  himself  for- 
tunate to  get,  for  his  particular  purpose,  so  good  a  woman 
as  Miss  Sprague,  even  if  she  were  a  wee  bit  given  to  the  use 
of  slang. 

Story-telling  is  not  entirely  for  women.  Some  young 
men  in  social  settlements  and  boys'  clubs  have  found  they 
could  get  a  stronger  hold  on  boys  through  stories  than  by 
games. 

Mrs.  Lowe  believes  in  developing  the  story-hour  into 
something  of  an  organization.  She  would  have  listeners 
who  would  become  an  active  organization.  There  should 
be,  she  believes,  a  club,  committees,  perhaps  grades  and 
promotions.  After  the  story,  she  would  have  discussions 
and  would  let  the  organization  grow  into  a  society  for  doing 
good.  This  is  certainly  in  harmony  with  the  fundamental 
axiom  of  pedagogy — no  impression  without  expression. 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR    THE    STORY-HOUR 

Apparently  a  minor  yet  really  a  very  important  detail 
in  a  story-hour,  whether  for  children  or  adults,  is  that  the 
place  of  meeting  shall  be  a  cheerful  one.  Such  a  place 
ought  not  to  be  impossible  to  find.  The  writer  has  in  mind 
one  story  gathering  whose  gloomy  meeting-place  seemed 
to  be  a  perpetual  and  constantly  perceptible  barrier  to  the 
work,  which  was  intensified  upon  unsuccessful  afternoons 
until  it  distinctly  got  on  the  nerves  of  its  members. 

Miss  Sprague  sensibly  states  that  in  her  judgment 
two  essentials  stand  out  most  conspicuously  in  such  gath- 
erings: fresh  air  and  a  keen  desire  to  listen.  "I  have," 
she  says,  "visited  so  many  schools  and  so  many  clubs  and 
classes  where  the  bad  air  meant  almost  of  a  certainty  in- 
attention, that  I  cannot  help  emphasizing  it  just  as  strongly 
as  possible."  Concerning  the  even  more  important  matter 
of  the  desire  to  listen,  she  calls  attention  to  the  sometimes 


160  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

forgotten  fact  that  in  a  boys'  club  there  are  some  boys 
who  are  bodily,  but  not  spiritually,  in  the  story-teller's 
presence.  They  do  not  expect  to  be  interested.  To  such  a 
boy,  Miss  Sprague  would  say,  "You  don't  feel  like  listening, 
Tommy.  Go  down  and  play  some  games."  This  sane  sug- 
gestion may  make  all  the  difference  in  the  world  to  the 
other  forty  or  fifty  Tommys  and  Johnnys  who  remain. 

Miss  Sprague  too  no  doubt  voices  the  sentiment  of 
most  story-tellers  when  she  says,  "I  am  never  quite  com- 
fortable and  really  ready  for  business  unless  they  are  al- 
lowed to  draw  their  chairs  close  to  the  story!" 

Mrs.  Lowe  believes  that  almost  any  objective  thing  is 
better  than  no  object  at  all  to  illustrate  and  give  reality  to 
the  story.  She  would  get  empty  bottles  and  pin  about 
them  cloth  of  different  colors  and  call  them  people,  if  neces- 
sary ;  a  red  cloth  for  an  Indian  and  a  blue  one  for  a  soldier. 
To  have  a  background,  she  would  use  a  sheet  or  table  cloth 
to  form  hills  and  plains  and  trace  the  line  of  travel  of 
the  characters  with  a  finger.  She  has  used  corks  for 
brownies  and  pens  for  fairies  and  bottles  for  children. 
The  young  folks  readily  value  any  of  these  home-made 
substitutes.  In  an  emergency,  some  child  will  actually  say 
excitedly,  "Get  the  vinegar  bottle.  Let's  have  a  giant!" 
Of  course  these  devices  are  practicable  only  in  a  small 
group  of  children. 

The  best  story-tellers  do  not  try  to  "grade"  their  listen- 
ers too  closely.  As  one  of  them  said  to  the  writer  some- 
what tartly,  "Nobody  in  the  world  tries  to  grade  children 
but  school  teachers,  and  that  is  all  they  know."  If  a  story 
has  a  big  interest  it  will-  reach  children  of  many  ages. 
Some  children  who  grade  high  in  school  are  deficient  in 
imagination  and  will  not  enjoy  a  story  as  well  as  those 
who  have  less  acquisitive  information.  In  library  story- 
hours  children  of  about  three  consecutive  grades  in  school 
are  often  invited  together. 

Mrs.  Lowe,  from  her  large  experience,  has  discovered 
some  essential  differences  in  the  mental  attitude  of  the  boy 


ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING  161 

and  the  girl  which  she  believes  ought  to  be  studied  carefully. 
"The  boy  has  an  intense  desire  to  build  himself,  to  become 
great  enough  to  lead  others.  He  has  no  innate  desire  to  be 
led;  he  does  not  like  to  follow.  He  is  the  sun  and  the 
planets  revolve  about  him.  His  idea  of  himself  is  that  he 
must  draw — attract.  This  tendency  of  his  ego  must  be  the 
basis  of  our  teaching.  It  must  be  considered  as  his  person- 
ality and  respected.  His  query  is  how  he  may  become  great. 
Give  him  something  to  do  like  a  man  and  he  will  be  in- 
terested. 

"The  tendency  of  the  girl  is  to  be  directed.  She  will 
follow.  She  is  always  willing  to  revolve  about  a  greater 
power.  She  is  therefore  more  teachable  than  the  boy  but 
more  unreliable.  She  is  more  easily  moved  than  the  boy, 
more  easily  influenced.  Use  influence  with  the  girl  and 
argument  with  the  boy.  The  girl  is  capable  of  doing  big 
things  and  of  reaching  great  heights. 

"The  boy  has  great  sentiments,  more  perhaps  than  the 
girl,  but  the  girl  has  too  much  emotion  and  she  disgusts 
the  boy  often  with  his  own  sentiment.  Guard  carefully  a 
boy's  sentiment.  It  is  the  gradual  crushing  of  these  half- 
formed  things  that  ruins  his  life  many  times. 

"The  boy  does  not  need  you,  however,  so  much  as  the 
girl.  There  are  infinite  possibilities  in  the  girl  that  will  never 
be  developed  if  outside  influences  are  not  brought  to  bear 
on  her  life.  She  will  not  build  herself  with  a  motive 
strength  within  herself.  She  will  be  negatively  good  with 
no  other  instrument  than  an  innate  desire  to  be  so,  but  to 
assert  herself  and  come  into  possession  of  her  inheritance, 
she  must  feel  an  attraction  outside  herself  and  be  more 
or  less  influenced  by  it.  The  boy  has  an  incentive  within 
himself  to  build  and  must  only  be  given  material,  but  the 
girl,  lacking  this  incentive,  can  more  easily  be  led  to  per- 
fection." 


162  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


THE  PROGRAM   IN  THE   STORY-HOUR 

At  the  Pittsburgh  story-hour  the  story-tellers  usually 
use  folk-tales  but  do  not  disdain  to  utilize  good  stories  wher- 
ever they  find  them.  They  believe  in  Pittsburgh  that  folk- 
tales are  especially  useful,  as  are  folk-crafts,  in  preserving 
the  traditions  of  the  many  countries  from  which  the  chil- 
dren come.  This  helps  explain  why  mothers  are  as  in- 
terested in  the  Pittsburgh  story-hours  as  are  the  children. 

There  is  a  large  place  for  what  someone  has  brightly 
called  "stepping  stone"  stories,  those  which,  without  liter- 
ary style  or  serious  purpose,  reach  down  where  the  child 
is  and  help  lift  him  up  to  a  higher  level.  In  Greenwich, 
Conn.,  for  example,  the  story-teller  had  to  contend  with 
the  moving  picture  shows,  cheap  vaudeville  and  unsuper- 
vised  play.  She  found  it  necessary  to  begin  with  very  short 
stories,  with  no  literary  flavor,  containing  lively  and  excit- 
ing plots  and  dealing  entirely  with  affairs  of  to-day.  After 
she  had  gotten  hold  of  her  audience,  she  was  able  gradually 
to  lengthen  her  tales,  to  turn  to  literary  material  and  to 
tell  stories  by  cycles. 

Edna  Lyman  claims  that  a  successful  story-hour  is  not 
a  vaudeville  of  "attractions."  There  are  three  things  which 
a  person  who  talks  to  a  large  number  of  children  should  en- 
deavor in  the  hour  to  attain.  First,  he  must  gain  attention. 
The^jirslLstory  is  to,  the_restjQl_the^  program__wjial_tlie 
^orchestra  is  to  the  play...  It. carries  thejstory-teller  success- 
fully  through  any  opening  confusion  oFrioise  to  the  jriind 
ojLjtheJistenefs  and  puts  thej^jjTlhe__attitude_of  sympathy. 
Next~c^mes~lfie""wmofe'Terious  and  thoughtful  thing,  often 
a  story  which  is  most  fuTTof  inspiration  and  uplift.  This 
Miss  Lyman  calls  "the  symphony"  of  the  hour.  Finally 
Is  the  climax,  a  story  full  oF~strength,  full  of  purpose, 
full  of  the  light  and  shade  of  humor  and  pathos  and  in- 
tended to  leave  the  children  eager  to  come  again.  These 
three  items  do  not  necessarily  imply  that  exactly  three 


ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING  163 

stories  should  be  told.  Such  a  program,  however,  is  by 
no  means  a  bad  one,  and  Miss  Bailey's  story  programs  in 
her  excellent  book  "For  the  Story-Teller"  are  always  ar- 
ranged in  cycles  of  three.  The  professional  story-teller 
will  wish  to  scan  them  all,  but  one  or  two  samples  here 
will  be  sufficient.  As  a  "home"  program  she  suggests  this : 

"How  the  Home  Was  Built,"  by  Maud  Lindsay  in 
"Mother  Stories." 

"The  Little  Gray  Grandmother,"  by  Elizabeth  Harrison 
in  "For  the  Children's  Hour." 

"Sheep  and  Pigs,"  Scandinavian  folk-tale. 

Under  animal  programs,  with  the  special  caption  of 
"Rabbits,"  she  suggests  these: 

"Raggylug,"  by  Ernest  Thompson  Seton,  adapted. 

"Peter  Rabbit,"  by  Beatrix  Potter. 

"Bre'r  Rabbit  and  the  Little  Tar  Baby,"  by  Joel  Chand- 
ler Harris  in  "Nights  with  Uncle  Remus." 

In  arranging  a  story  program  some  of  the  possible 
systems  are  these: 

By  theme 
By  race 
By  period 
By  author. 

With  children  the  first  is  evidently  the  best.  It  gives  the 
opportunity  for  the  simplest,  clearest,  most  abiding  impres- 
sion. Within  the  motif  of  one  theme  there  is  plenty  of  room 
for  the  overture,  the  symphony  and  the  cadence  that  Miss 
Lyman  asks  for.  But  the  child  has  little  care  for  sources, 
Celtic  or  Scandinavian,  for  periods,  ancient  or  modern, 
or  whether  a  story  has  a  known  author  or  is  anonymous. 
These  should  be  reserved  for  story-periods  of  adults,  with 
their  fully  developed  interest  in  literary  sources,  periods 
and  men.  For  them  such  special  programs  are  instruc- 
tive and  valuable. 

Miss  Bailey  illustrates  more  fully  the  way  one  typical 
story  group  may  be  helpful  by  instancing  three  stories 


164  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

which  may  be  grouped  about  the  central  thought  of  indus- 
try. ''The  first  story  in  the  story  group  might  be  The 
Sailor's  Home/  by  Laura  E.  Richards.  This  story  catches 
and  holds  the  children's  attention  at  once  because  its  charac- 
ters are  familiar  to  them ;  its  setting  is  one  they  can  quickly 
see  in  their  imagination.  They  have  much  in  common  with 
the  two  children.  And  the  climax  of  the  story  is  a  lesson 
in  industry.  The  second  story  in  the  group,  'Stone  in  the 
Road/  makes  the  children  think.  It  takes  them  further 
afield  and  makes  them  see  in  imagination  wealth,  a  castle, 
gold,  poverty.  This  story  makes  the  children  use  their 
dawning  power  of  judging.  The  last  story  is  'Drakesbill/ 
a  humorous  folk-tale.  This  story  makes  a  fitting  climax, 
while  it  still  emphasizes  the  central  thought  of  the  story 
group — industry." 

In  the  Pittsburgh  story-hours,  two  stories  are  gener- 
ally told  each  hour.  One  is  especially  selected  for  the 
youngest  listeners  and  the  other  more  general  in  character. 

The  Carnegie  Library  of  Pittsburgh  publishes,  from 
time  to  time  an  outline  for  cycle  stories.  This  cycle  sug- 
gests choice  of  incidents  for  the  individual  story-teller 
which  will  make  each  a  dramatic  unit;  an  arrangement  of 
stories  to  heighten  the  interest  in  science  as  a  whole;  best 
sources  for  the  story-teller  and  those  for  children ;  read- 
ing for  the  story-teller's  background  and  supplementary 
reading  for  the  children.  They  include  lists  of  books  to 
which  reference  is  made.  The  following  outlines  are  now 
in  print  and  may  be  obtained  at  5c.  each:  Stories  from 
the  Norse ;  Stories  from  the  Ballads  of  Robin  Hood.  Simi- 
lar lists  which  will  be  helpful  to  the  story-teller,  published 
at  the  same  price,  are  Patriots,  and  Heroism.  The  first 
of  these  is  published  by  the  Pittsburgh  Library  and  the 
second  by  the  New  York  Public  Library. 

In  regard  to  cycle  stories,  especially  the  long  cycles  that 
are  used  in  Pittsburgh,  most  experienced  story-tellers  will 
probably  agree  with  Miss  Hewins  when  she  says  that  the 
cycle  seems  to  be  practical  only  where  the  story-teller 


ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING  165 

is  sure  of  meeting  nearly  the  same  audience  every  week. 
Children  after  all  have  some  other  things  to  do  besides 
attending  story-hours,  and  to  stake  success  with  the  indi- 
vidual upon  his  desire  or  ability  to  attend  every  chapter 
of  the  cycle  would  seem  to  tend  to  narrow  the  congregation 
to  a  very  exclusive  group. 

The  program  printed  in  the  appendix,  furnished  the 
writer  through  the  kindness  of  Miss  Julia  Williamson,  direc- 
tor of  story-telling  for  the  Philadelphia  Free  Library,  seems 
to  the  writer  admirable  as  a  guide  for  a  winter  of  organized 
story-telling.  The  list  is  a  composite,  and  represents  the 
likings  of  several  intelligent  and  experienced  story-tellers, 
it  is  excellently  classified  and  diversified,  and  it  lends  itself 
either  to  the  telling  of  complete  stories  or  continued  stories 
or  cycles  of  stories.  From  such  a  list  any  story-teller  could 
furnish  herself  for  a  whole  season. 


THE    STORY-TELLERS'  LEAGUE 

^Miss  Mary  L.  Shedlock,  who  came  from  England__tp 
A£ierjcajn_1902  to  tell  stories  to  adults^as  well  as  children, 

Jias  been  credited  as  the  founder  of  the  story-telling  move-. 

jiient  in  America*  Those  who,  like  the  writer,  heard  her  at 
Chautauqua,  may  well  credit  the  story  which  is  told  of  the 
child  who,  after  listening  to  her,  wanted  to  know  whether 
she  was  a  lady  or  a  fairy.  Costumed  like  a  fairy  god- 
mother, she  did  much  to  revive  the  old  bardic  art  and 
groups  of  story-tellers  rose  in  her  train  wherever  she  ap- 
peared. Coming  annually  to  this  country  until  a  very  few 
years  ago,  her  influence  was  as  continuous  as  it  was  charm- 
ing. 

At  ^bojit_the__same  time  Richard  T.  Wyche,  thgn__a, 
cotmtrjjjrhoo!^  in  *^e  smith,  caused  his  modest_biit 

earnest  voice  to  be  heard  as  to  the  gospeLoLstory-telling;. 
Beginning  his  public  work  in  a  southern  university,^  has 


166  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

gone  quietly  about  the  land,  _bnngmgjnto  ieing_and_power 
the  National  Story-Tellers'  League. 

Concerning  methods  of  organizing  a  local  story-tellers' 
league,  Mr.  Wyche  writes  us  as  follows : 

"Call  together  a  group  of  people  who  have  the  story- 
telling work  at  heart,  elect  officers  and  appoint  a  program 
committee  to  arrange  a  program  of  stories  to  study  and 
tell  for  six  or  eight  months  in  advance.  Let  the  meetings 
be  informal,  social  and  free;  all  who  join  are  expected  to 
take  part.  It  is  best  to  limit  the  membership  to  about 
twenty-five  or  thirty.  If  others  wish  to  come  in,  let  them 
form  a  separate  organization.  A  number  of  towns  have 
three  or  four  local  leagues,  each  working  out  its  own  sal- 
vation in  a  democratic  way. 

"Local  leagues  are  affiliated  with  the  National  League 
by  the  fee  of  ten  cents  for  each  local  member,  to  be  paid 
to  the  National  League. 

"You  will  find  quite  a  good  deal  of  information  in  re- 
gard to  the  movement  in  the  World's  Work,  March,  1913 ; 
Mother's  Magazine,  May,  1914;  Literary  Digest,  July  1, 
1913 ;  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Clark  University,  about  No- 
vember, 1909;  'Some  Great  Stories  and  How  to  Tell 
Them,'  a  book  of  mine  published  by  Newson  and  Company, 
New  York.  A  number  of  leagues  issue  year  books." 

It  may  be  questioned1  whether  there  is  enough  vitality 
in  the  story-telling  movement  to  keep  alive  interested  or- 
ganizations of  persons  who  gather  solely  to  tell  stories  to 
each  other.  The  best  answer  is  the  results.  Since  Richard 
T.  Wyche  gathered  the  first  Story-Tellers'  League  on  the 
grounds  of  the  University  of  Tennessee  in  the  summer  of 
1902  local  societies  have  been  established,  some  of  which 
have  had  from  six  to  twelve  years  of  consecutive  existence. 
Of  course,  not  all  have  been  successful.  But  there  would 
seem  to  be  as  much  reason  for  the  being  and  maintenance 
of  a  story  club  as  of  a  card  club.  The  life  of  any  organiza- 
tion depends,  of  course,  upon  the  existence  of  a  group  who 
are  genuinely  interested  in  its  purposes  and  upon  the  use 


ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING**"  167 

of  the  wisest  methods.  The  successful  Story-Tellers' 
Leagues  seem  to  have  been  those  in  which  the  members  have 
actually  told  stories.  They  may  have  passed,  through 
story-telling,  into  some  study  of  literature,  but  wherever 
they  have  become  merely  social  organizations  or  where 
they  have  depended  upon  professional  story-tellers  or  ora- 
torical or  dramatic  entertainments  for  their  programs  they 
have  failed.  A  story-tellers'  league  should  be  a  story- 
tellers'  league.  It  is  not  a  class  in  elocution;  it  is  not  an 
audience  for  listening  to  elocutionists.  It  is  not  a  group 
gathered  to  hear  memorized  narratives  nor  to  listen  to  a 
garrulous  person  of  unorganized  mentality.  The  aberrations 
which  are  possible  to  a  story-tellers'  league  are  illustrated 
by  one  which  was  called  to  the  writer's  attention  where, 
during  a  series  of  folk-tales,  a  number  of  children  from  one 
of  the  schools  came  in  costume  and  illustrated  Italian  story- 
telling by  dancing  the  fandango,  and  where  an  "African 
afternoon"  was  diversified  by  the  appearance  of  forty  cute 
little  "coons"  from  another  school  who  sang  plantation 
melodies. 

How  shall  we  get  participation  by  our  members  in  the 
story-telling?  Answer:  the  very  organization  of  the  league 
must  be  geared  for  this  purpose.  Much  rests  upon  the 
program  committee.  They  should  select  programs  which 
involve  such  a  variety  of  stories  that  no  one  person  could 
be  expected  to  tell  them  all.  They  should  assign  far  in  ad- 
vance the  story-appointments,  choosing  perhaps  an  alternate 
as  well  as  a  principal  for  each  opportunity.  A  helpful  de- 
vice where  a  good  speaker  is  expected  is  to  ask  him  kindly 
not  to  tell  his  stories  himself  but  to  suggest  their  titles  to 
the  committee  so  that  they  may  be  assigned  to  individuals. 
There  are,  of  course,  always  those  who  enjoy  coming  in 
and  having  an  afternoon  of  entertainment  by  listening  to 
the  others,  but  such  are  not  desirable  additions  to  the  mem- 
bership, and  a  small  club  in  which  all  are  friends  and  no 
one  feels  embarrassed  is  much  better  than  a  big  one,  in 
which  "entertaining  features"  are  expected. 


168  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

There  seems  to  be  room  for  the  story-telling  method 
in  organizations  where  some  other  things  are  considered. 
A  Sunday  school  teachers'  meeting,  in  the  writer's  own 
experience,  was  much  strengthened  by  giving  a  consecutive 
series  of  eight  meetings  out  of  its  winter's  work  just  to 
story-telling.  The  teachers  appreciated  the  value  of  the 
work  for  their  own  teaching,  though  they  would  have 
shrunk  from  joining  an  additional  society  to  tell  stories 
indefinitely.  The  attendance  of  the  group  was  doubled  for 
that  space  of  time.  A  short  course  or  an  occasional  hour 
for  story-telling  has  been  an  agreeable  means  of  help  to  a 
club  of  public  school  teachers.  Many  summer  normal 
schools  offer  story-hours  on  the  school  lawn  after  the  text- 
book work  and  the  lectures  of  the  day  are  over.  Those 
who  are  interested  in  education  are  glad  to  see  the  method 
used  wherever  it  may  strengthen  the  preparation  of  teachers 
of  the  young. 

THE    STORY-CLASS 

Story-telling  is  an  art  of  such  dignity  that  those  who 
practice  it  anywhere  ought  to  be  prepared  for  their  worthy 
calling.  Miss  Hewins,  speaking  for  the  librarians,  states 
their  ideal  and  the  too-frequent  actuality,  when  she  pleads 
for  a  woman  "who  makes  story-telling  her  profession, 
and  is  one  of  the  library's  staff,  as  in  New  York,  where 
Miss  Anna  Tyler,  a  woman  with  background  and  dramatic 
training,  goes  from  branch  to  branch  and  meets  clubs  of 
the  older  boys  and  girls.  The  difficulty  is,  however,  in 
finding  a  story-teller  who  has  had  all  her  life  a  knowledge 
of  the  best  stories  for  children.  Half-baked  young  girls 
are  attracted  by  what  seems  an  easy  method  of  earning 
money  and  pose  as  story-tellers  without  more  material  to 
work  on  than  a  collection  like  Miss  Bryant's  'Stories  to 
Tell  to  Children/  The  same  is  true  of  some  of  the  volun- 
teer story-tellers  who  offer  their  services." 

The  Playground  Association  finds  this  same  difficulty 


ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING  169 

among  the  volunteer  story-tellers  of  the  playgrounds.  Too 
often  stories  are  left  to  the  younger  or  volunteer  leaders 
who  happen  to  have  a  gift  of  telling  them  rather  vividly 
but  who  often  do  not  recognize  the  tremendous  power  they 
wield.  One  such  worker  said  she  spent  half  an  hour  a 
week  looking  up  and  preparing  her  stories !  How  different 
this  from  the  work  of  the  trained  moral  diagnostician  who 
watches  for  the  evidences  of  sick  or  weak  little  souls  and 
administers  the  needed  remedy — truly  a  sugar-coated  pill 
— or  who  plans  even  prayerfully  the  story  which  will  open 
the  next  logical  step  of  development  for  the  normal  red- 
blooded  boys  and  girls. 

Story-telling  is  now  being  taught  in  nearly  all  normal 
and  kindergarten  training  schools.  Miss  Latham  and  Miss 
Moore  at  Teachers'  College,  Columbia  University,  and  Miss 
Gudrun  Thorne  Thompson  at  the  University  of  Chicago 
are  doing  particularly  good  work  in  university  circles.  Mr. 
Wyche  on  his  various  itineracies  gives  helpful  short  courses. 

A  story-class  differs  from  a  story-league  chiefly  in 
the  degree  of  the  seriousness  of  its  members.  The  element 
of  entertainment  is  only  incidental  and  it  is  understood 
that  the  pupils  themselves  must,  during  every  session,  actu- 
ally tell  stories.  A  story-class  ought  to  have  a  definite 
program  of  work  based  both  upon  textbooks  and  upon 
standard  story  collections.  There  should  be  regular  re- 
quired reading.  Even  when  lectures  are  given,  the  story 
demonstration  should  be  by  the  pupils  themselves.  A  story- 
class  without  actual  story-telling  by  the  pupils  themselves 
is  as  aimless  as  a  laboratory  class  in  physics  in  which  all 
the  demonstrations  are  performed  by  the  instructor. 

It  is  essential  that  the  story-class  should  be  composed 
of  serious-minded  persons  who  not  only  love  children 
and  stories,  but  who  are  willing  to  do  hard  work  and 
meet  good-naturedly  the  candid  criticism  of  their  class- 
mates and  to  perform  their  work,  without  loss  of  enthusi- 
asm, in  a  true  professional  spirit. 

Sane  criticism  is  always  helpful  and  can  usually  be 


170  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

secured.  The  best  method  is  to  ask  each  person  in  the 
room  in  turn  to  offer  a  word  of  comment  after  the  story 
is  finished.  Grammatical  errors  and  lapses  in  style  need 
not  be  noticed.  The  best  preliminary  to  good  criticism  is 
for  the  story-teller  to  announce  before  he  tells  his  story 
for  what  age  and  sex  it  is  intended,  what  atmosphere  it  is 
desired  to  create  and  what  purpose  the  story  is  planned 
to  fulfil.  If  the  criticism  can  follow  along  these  three 
lines  it  will  be  most  helpful.  Wherever  possible  the  criti- 
cism should  be  constructive  as  well  as  kindly.  "Could 

Miss  S have  made  herself  more  clearly  understood  if 

she  had  shortened  her  approach  to  the  climax  in  this 

way ?"  " Would  she  have  done  better  to  have  used 

the  word  at  that  point  instead  of  to  bring 

out  more  decisively  the  character  of  Prince  Charming?" 
etc. 

At  Teachers'  College,  where  classes  in  "Telling  Stories 
to  Children"  are  most  admirably  conducted,  training,  which 
is  carried  out  thoroughly  along  theoretic  lines,  has  a  prag- 
matic and  highly  effective  side  as  well.  After  some  months 
spent  in  studying  methods  and  in  class  practice,  each  girl 
selects  a  long  story — preferably  one  of  her  favorites — 
studies  it  carefully,  makes  it  her  own,  and  in  due  time  tells 
it  formally  to  her  teacher  and  fellow-students.  These,  for 
the  time  being,  consciously  play  at  being  children  again, 
thus  giving  the  girl  on  the  platform  a  sympathetic  audience 
at  the  outset — something  which  every  beginner  at  story- 
telling needs  sorely.  Once  the  story  is  done,  the  teacher 
calls  upon  various  members  of  the  class  for  criticism, 
favorable,  unfavorable,  general,  and  specific ;  and  presently 
everybody  has  added  something  of  practical  value  to  her 
knowledge  of  this  seemingly  simple  art.  Always  the  criti- 
cism brings  out  the  fact  that  the  girl  who  can  forget  herself 
enough  to  be  easy  and  natural,  yet  who  is  wholly  dramatic 
in  the  "high  places,"  has  played  the  game  most  successfully, 
has  told  her  story  most  effectively. 

There  are  so  many  ways  in  which  the  trained  story- 


ORGANIZED  STORY-TELLING  171 

teller  resembles  the  preacher  that  one  almost  feels  like 
pleading  that  a  textbook  in  homiletics  should  be  added  to 
the  curriculum  of  the  pupil  in  story-telling.  As  the  writer 
put  down  these  words  his  eye  fell  upon  a  volume  of  the 
Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching  in  his  library,  by  ex-president 
William  J.  Tucker  of  Dartmouth  College.  It  is  entitled 
"The  Making  and  Unmaking  of  the  Preacher,"  but  it  might 
about  as  well  have  been  called,  'The  Making  and  Unmaking 
of  the  Story-Teller."  Doctor  Tucker  begins  by  pleading 
for  that  mutualness  and  co-operation  between  speaker  and 
listener  which  we  have  been  pleading  for  between  story- 
teller and  child.  "The  preacher  (story-teller)  is  the  man 
who  is  able  to  enlist  other  men  in  his  work  of  persuasion" ; 
these  others  he  is  to  make  "distributing  agents  of  the 
truth."  That  which  makes  the  good  preacher  makes  the 
good  story-teller,  "the  depth  and  breadth  of  his  own  hu- 
manity"; that  which  unmakes  the  preacher  unmakes  the 
story-teller,  "unreality"  of  reason,  imagination  or  feeling. 
The  success  of  preacher  and  story-teller  alike  is  in  humble 
endeavor — "there  is  no  fellowship  so  great  or  safe  or  assur- 
ing as  that  into  which  we  enter  through  humility." 

Let  us  emphasize  especially  that  phrase,  "the  depth 
and  breadth  of  his  own  humanity."  The  story-teller  who 
gets  his  stories  entirely  out  of  the  women's  page  of  the 
evening  paper  does  not  get  very  far  or  strike  very  deep. 
The  story-teller  who  has  simply  a  repertoire  of  memorized 
and  rehearsed  stories  somehow  fails  to  hold.  Everything 
that  one  reads  or  feels  or  experiences,  if  it  be  treasured, 
in  some  way  gets  sometime  into  our  story-telling  and 
through  us  into  the  lives  of  our  children.  It  might  almost 
be  said  that  the  two  rules  for  making  a  good  story-teller, 
intellectually,  are  that  he  should  live  a  large  life  and  keep 
a  note-book.  The  conversation  of  almost  any  man  who  has 
done  things  is  an  interesting  story.  The  reason  why  the 
garrulous  are  tiresome  is  that  they  are  overwhelmed  by  the 
confusion  of  non-essentials  in  their  experience.  The  bards 
and  shamans  of  old  were  generally  men  who  had  travelled 


172  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

widely,  who  had  been  among  all  kinds  of  people,  who  had 
listened  intently,  and  whose  matter  and  art  were  both  fine 
because  the  matter  was  weighty  and  the  memory  of  it  was 
enthusiastic. 

If  there  are  in  this  world  persons  who  have  frequent 
privilege  of  feeling  themselves  fairy  godmothers,  they  must 
be  you  who  have  made  story-telling  a  profession.  To  enter 
a  room  full  of  children,  with  whom  you  have  previously 
made  friends  by  stories,  with  so  many  eager  "hearts  ajar 
for  your  arriving,"  is  one  of  life's  keenest  pleasures.  The 
fact  that  everyone  longs  to  touch  you,  to  sit  by  you,  to 
look  up  adoringly  into  your  face,  shows  that  you  have 
their  affections  as  well  as  their  attention  in  your  grasp. 
You  step  into  a  mood,  personal  and  social,  which  assures 
you  of  a  most  potent  influence.  You  take  rank  with  the 
world's  best  prophets  and  truth-tellers.  You  are  one  of 
the  makers. 


PART   II 

THE  BOTTLE   STORY-PEOPLE 
Introducing  Some  Friends  of  Mary  Lowe 


XVI 
THE  BOTTLE   STORY-PEOPLE 

"Lead  onward  into  fairy  land, 
Where  all  the  children  dine  at  five, 
And  all  the  playthings  come  alive." 

— Robert  Louis  Stevenson. 

WHO    THE   BOTTLE   PEOPLE   ARE 

Once  upon  a  time  the  Fairy  Godmother  wanted  to 
find  somebody  who  could  show  children  the  fairies.  She 
looked  everywhere;  in  Germany  the  land  of  fairies,  in 
France  and  Chili  and  Hindustan,  and  finally  in  our  own 
country.  And  there  at  length  she  discovered  a  little  white- 
haired  lady  who  still  loved  Bo  Peep  and  Little  Boy  Blue 
and  who  was  always  at  home  to  children. 

And  when  the  Fairy  Godmother  told  Mary  Lowe  what 
she  wanted  to  do,  Mary  Lowe  nodded  her  head  and  just 
laughed  and  said,  "I  understand."  Mary  Lowe  is  something 
of  a  fairy  herself,  and  she  knows  all  kinds  of  magic.  So 
she  took  her  scissors  and  her  ragbag  and  some  paper  and 
her  pen  and  ink  and  some  bottles! — and  went  to  work. 
And  when  she  had  got  done  working,  she  could  show  chil- 
dren the  fairies. 

After  she  had  led  a  great  many  children  into  Fairy- 
land, Mary  Lowe  asked  me  to  tell  grown-up  people  how 
she  does  it. 

Bottle  dolls  have  always  been  made,  but  they  have 
never  been  used  to  teach  a  new  kind  of  story-telling  until 
now. 

175 


176  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

The  new  kind  of  story-telling  is:  to  create  enough 
dolls  out  of  empty  bottles  to  represent  all  the  characters  in 
any  story  and  then  to  tell  the  story  by  causing  the  bottle 
people  to  enact  the  parts  indicated  by  their  characters. 


THE    ADVANTAGES    OF    BOTTLES 

Every  child  loves  to  live  in  a  mimic  world  and  likes 
to  produce  in  his  plays  the  dramatic  activities  of  the  char- 
acters who  are  his  imaginary  companions.  For  such  play 
he  does  not  require  close  adherence  to  actuality.  It  some- 
times seems  as  if  the  cruder  the  objects  of  play  the  easier 
it  is  for  the  child  to  crown  them  with  the  glamor  of  fancy. 
The  trouble  with  all  endeavors  to  play  dramatically  has 
been  that  the  characters  of  the  Noah's  Ark  are  not  sufficient 
in  number  to  portray  any  story,  and  doll  characters  con- 
structed out  of  paper  are  too  flimsy  or  destructible  for 
practical  uses.  So  Mrs.  Lowe,  in  making  bottle  dolls  for 
her  story-telling,  has  solved  one  of  the  most  difficult  play- 
problems.  Bottle  people  are  substantial  and  inexpensive, 
and  they  are  realistic  enough  to  satisfy  the  imagination  of 
the  children.  They  are  fully  as  lifelike  as  rag  dolls,  and 
these,  as  everybody  knows,  are  much  preferred  by  children 
to  the  most  artistic  wax  doll.  They  stand  up  better  than 
rag  dolls.  Wooden  ten-pins  or  other  turned  wooden  things 
with  broad  bases  would  be  practicable  because  they  can  be 
pierced  with  tiny  tacks,  but  bottles  have  the  advantage  of 
coming  in  so  many  sizes. 

One  of  the  most  desirable  materials  for  the  making  of 
character  dolls  in  places  where  such  material  is  common  is 
gourds.  Cut  off  at  the  bottom  they  are  as  stable  as  bottles, 
and  Nature  has  furnished  them  with  heads,  very  quaint  and 
often  humorous. 

Hard  material  is  not  very  cuddly,  but  then,  as  Mrs. 
Lowe  reminds  us,  people  do  not  hug  kings  and  queens  to 
any  great  extent,  nor  put  wet  thumbs  in  their  eyes.  The 


THE  BOTTLE  STORY-PEOPLE  177 

idea  is  not  to  turn  these  into  rag  babies,  to  be  handled  in  any 
undignified  manner.  Most  of  the  play,  especially  the  dra- 
matic play,  of  children  is  serious.  Chessmen  are  not  in 
themselves  fascinating,  but  they  are  used  for  playing  one 
of  the  most  fascinating  of  games.  Bottle  dolls  are  the  chess- 
men of  children,  used  for  playing  the  serious  game  of  Life. 
One  of  the  favorite  values  claimed  by  educators  for  the 
use  of  dolls  is  that  they  cultivate  the  maternal  instinct.  No 
such  claim  is  made  for  Bottle  Dolls.  They  are  not  made  to 
be  cuddled.  They  develop  respect  rather  than  the  warmest 
affection  of  children,  although  children  do  get  to  have  their 
favorites  and  to  think  of  them  very  warmly.  The  attitude 
of  the  average  child  toward  the  average  doll  is  the  special 
one  of  providential  love  for  that  which  is  little  and  helpless. 
The  average  attitude  of  the  ordinary  child  toward  the  Bottle 
Doll  is  similar  to  that  which  he  holds  toward  the  adult  world 
into  which  he  has  begun  to  enter.  It  is  a  foreshadowing  of 
a  recognition  of  the  value  of  character  and  the  variety  of 
personality.  This  is  why  Bottle  Dolls  appeal  to  boys  as 
much  as  to  girls.  The  boy  would  be  disgusted  to  see  a  girl 
fondle  a  Bottle  Doll.  He  would  regard  it  as  an  evidence  of 
disrespect.  The  Bottle  Doll  is  to  the  girl  as  well  as  to  the 
boy  a  valuable  interpreter  of  life.  Bottle  Dolls  are  inter- 
esting to  children  from  six  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  to  boys 
as  well  as  to  girls.  To  young  children  the  characters  make 
a  charming  Mother  Goose  Town.  They  do  a  very  desirable 
thing  in  keeping  big  girls  playing  dolls  longer  than  they 
otherwise  would,  for  they  offer  them  a  miniature  world  of 
grown-ups. 

THE    RELATION    TO    HANDICRAFT 

Emphasis  should  be  made  at  the  beginning  upon  the 
fact  that  this  is  more  truly  a  system  of  toy  handicraft  and 
of  story-telling  than  of  play.  That  is,  the  dolls  are  not 
chiefly  intended  to  play  house  with  or  to  roll  balls  at, 
but  to  work  out  real  and  imaginary  stories,  little  dramas. 


178  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

The  handicraft  comes  into  the  making  of  the  doll 
characters  and  the  scenery  and  accessories.  As  in  much 
other  play  of  children,  getting  ready  is  about  the  most  de- 
lightful part.  The  story-playing  is  the  climax  of  a  delight- 
ful afternoon  with  scissors  and  thimble. 

Their  successful  use  demands  the  leadership  either 
of  an  adult  or  of  an  imaginative  child.  Almost  all  children 
turn  out  to  be  imaginative  if  they  have  a  chance.  Usually 
children  will  make  up  their  own  stories  with  the  dolls  as 
soon  as  they  have  heard  one  story  told  with  them  by  an 
adult.  This  story-playing  presupposes  an  audience,  but  if 
the  audience  is  composed  of  ordinary  dolls  arranged  in 
appreciative  attitudes  it  usually  proves  sufficient. 

Mothers  who  have  kept  the  child  spirit  tarrying  in 
their  hearts  will  find  bottle-doll  story-telling  an  infinitely 
delightful  occupation  with  their  children.  The  little  folks 
will  enjoy  making  and  arranging  the  characters;  they  will 
retell  the  stories,  they  will  actually  enter  the  Enchanted 
Land  themselves  and  often  find  there  new  adventures  and 
fresh  surprises.  When  other  children  come  in  they,  too,  will 
be  charmed,  and  there  will  never  be  any  trouble  about  hav- 
ing a  party  when  the  bottle  characters  are  invited. 


A    NEW   WAY    OF    DEVELOPING   THE 
IMAGINATION 

The  philosophers  are  telling  us  how  necessary  is  the 
element  of  make-believe  in  children's  lives.  Here  is  a 
most  skilful  way  of  developing  it,  not  in  the  merely  passive 
way  of  story-reading,  but  through  the  most  active,  self- 
directing,  serial  play.  There  is  also  an  even  more  important 
opportunity — the  moral  element.  But  of  this  in  Chapter 
XX. 


XVII 

THE  BOTTLE  CHARACTERS 

Mrs.  Lowe  says  her  first  endeavor  in  her  little  pla> 
was  to  make  the  children  love  the  dolls.  It  helped,  of  course, 
to  do  this  when  the  children  made  them,  but  they  learned 
best  to  do  it  by  knowing  and  feeling  that  every  doll  was  a 
personality.  For  this  purpose  Mrs.  Lowe  created  a  King- 
dom of  Dolls,  establishing  therein  certain  rulers  and  citizens 
with  fixed  names  and  characters. 

This  Kingdom  was  constituted  of  the  familiar  charac- 
ters in  the  classical  children's  books,  turning  most  fre- 
quently to  that  cornerstone  of  education,  Mother  Goose 
Melodies.  Mrs.  Lowe  has  developed  when  she  has  played 
with  a  group  of  children  for  several  years  as  many  as 
three  hundred  characters,  but  it  is  necessary  at  first  to 
master  only  a  few.  The  following  are  suggested,  with  hints 
as  to  what  they  naturally  represent  in  children's  minds. 
They  are  arranged  in  three  classes. 


THE    KINGDOM    OF    LOVE 

1.  The  Fairy  Queen  (or  Godmother) — the  Spirit  of 
Love,  who  has  left  Fairy  Land  to  rule  over  the  Kingdom. 

2.  Buttercup.     This  cheery  fairy  of  brightness  and 
light,  the  blossom  that  is  like  a  candle,  who  has  never  dis- 
obeyed the  King,  is  the  untainted  better  nature  that  shines 
in  the  heart  of  every  child.    She  is  the  Queen's  Messenger. 

3.  Alice  of  Wonderland — another  Messenger  of  the 
Fairy  Queen ;  "the  only  person  the  children  know  who  has 

179 


180  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

been  in  the  wonderful  Land  the  children  love."     (Another 
messenger  might  be  Shakespeare's  Ariel.) 

4.  Tiny  Tots — who  keep  alive  the  mother  love  of  the 
Fairy  Queen,  for  "it  takes  giving  and  not  receiving,  the 
innocent  faces  and  the  light  clasp  of  the  little  hands,  to 
keep  love  warm  and  unselfish." 

5.  Puck — the  spirit  of  irresponsible  mischief. 

THE    KINGDOM    OF    LAW 

1.  Old  King  Cole — a  typical  earthly  monarch  who 
keeps  the  Kingdom  in  order.     He  puts  anyone  who  hurts 
another  in  a  great  north  tower,  where  it  is  dreadful  to 
stay. 

2.  The  Queen  of  Hearts — a  lovely  Queen  who  always 
pleads  for  those  who  do  wrong,  because  she  knows  that  if 
they  did  not  drink  the  brew  they  would  be  good. 

3.  Jack  o'  Hearts — a  boyish  prince  who  likes  the  com- 
mon people,  and  who  is  a   messenger  of  the  King  and 
Queen. 

4.  5.     The  Master  and  the  Dame,  attendants  of  the 
court,  really  school  teachers,  a  childless  couple  who  love 
all  children. 

6.  A  High  Sheriff  or  Policeman,  a  kindly  soul  who 
tries  to  maintain  order. 

7.  The  Giant  Killer,  every  boy's  hero,  an  attendant  at 
the  court. 

8.  Humpty  Dumpty,  a  comedy  character,  round  as  a 
ball,  and  unsteady  on  his  feet. 

THE  PEOPLE  WHO   LIVE  IN  THE  EN- 
CHANTED   LAND 

1.  Old  Mother  Hubbard — a  gossipy  soul  who  is  fond 
of  pets. 

2.  The  Farmer's  wife — a  good  housekeeper. 


THE  BOTTLE  CHARACTERS  181 

3.  Mary  Contrary— an  energetic  school  girl  who  is 
fond  of  flowers. 

4.  Polly  Flinders— a  nice  little  school  girl,  who  never- 
theless sometimes  gets  into  the  cinders. 

5.  Little  Miss  Muffet — who  is  always  afraid  of  things. 

6.  Bo- Peep— the  Farmer's  daughter;  a  shepherdess; 
aggressive  and  sometimes  naughty. 

7.  Red  Riding  Hood — a  small  girl  who  has  many  sur- 
prising adventures. 

8.  Lena — a   thoughtless  child,   who  often  listens  to 
Puck. 

9.  Bessie  Brooks — who  goes  to  walk  on  Sunday,  and 
thinks  she  is  a  young  lady. 

10.  Johnny  Green — who  likes  mischief,  and  who  put 
the  cat  in  the  well. 

11.  Jack  Horner — the  little  boy  who  is  greedy,  and 
who  likes  to  brag. 

12.  Tom  Piper — a  little  boy  who  takes  things. 

13.  Little  Boy  Blue — a  lovable  little  fellow,  always 
full  of  cheer;  brother  of  Bo-Peep. 

14.  Wee  Willie  Winkie — who  doesn't  like  to  go  to 
bed. 

15.  Tommy  Snooks — who  thinks  he  is  a  man.     "He 
and  Bessie  Brooks  are  the  only  ones  who  are  of  the  sweet- 
heart size.     No  little  world  would  seem  complete  to  chil- 
dren without  the  sweetheart  element." 

16.  The  Farmer. 

17.  A  Giant. 

18.  Sister  Marie — "She  has  no  life  of  her  own,  but 
lives  for  others." 

19.  The  Witches — who  try  to  kill  love,  and  rule  with 
hate. 

20.  The  Lovely  Lady — anybody's  mother. 

21.  Ruth — she  represents  any  girl  listener;  daughter 
of  the  Lovely  Lady,  visiting  the  Kingdom  of  Love. 

22.  Frank — any  little  boy  listener. 

Sometimes   a   child   personalizes   himself  as  "Frank" 


182  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

or  "Ruth,"  and  sometimes  he  selects  another  for  his  favorite 
character  and  thinks  of  himself  as  walking  in  that  character 
through  the  story.  It  is  the  experience  of  adults  who  have 
become  familiar  with  the  dolls  by  name  and  character  that 
they  find  themselves  loving  certain  ones,  and  these  always 
the  ones  whose  names  and  histories  they  know  and  whose 
personalities  are  impressed  on  their  minds. 

One  can  at  once  see  the  fascinating  possibilities  in  the 
way  of  adding  other  familiar  Mother  Goose  characters  to 
this  assortment. 

The  Crooked  Man  ought  to  be  a  winsome  personality. 
Tommy  Tucker  who  sang  for  his  supper  should  be  a  cheer- 
ful lad.  The  Old  Woman  who  lived  in  a  shoe  should  be 
very  motherly.  Bobby  Shafto  should  be  the  sailor.  Three 
Wise  Men  of  Gotham  might  represent  the  Would-Be  Wise, 
Simple  Simon  the  fool  who  knows  that  he  is  not  wise.  The 
Old  Woman  who  brushed  the  cobwebs  from  the  sky  would 
be  a  happy  addition  to  the  element  of  fancy. 

CHANGING  NAMES  DOES  NOT  CHANGE 
CHARACTERS 

In  actual  bottle-doll  play  it  is  necessary  sometimes  to 
give  a  doll  a  new  name,  but  it  is  usually  not  necessary  to 
give  it  a  different  character.  The  child  simply  selects  a  doll 
that  has  a  similar  character  and  gives  it  a  temporary  new 
name  and  a  permanent  added  experience.  Thus  the  dolls 
really  live  a  consecutive  life,  though  "each  in  his  time  plays 
many  parts." 

If,  for  example,  one  wished  to  tell  the  story  of  Cin- 
derella the  bottle  people  might  assume  the  characters,  as 
follows : 

The  Farmer's  Wife  as  the  mother-in-law 

Bessie  Brooks 

Little  Miss  MurTet  Us  the  proud  sisters. 

Mary  Contrary 


THE  BOTTLE  CHARACTERS  183 


Ruth  as  Cinderella. 

Jack  o'  Hearts  as  the  Prince. 

The  Master 

The  Dame 


The  High  Sheriff 


as  Courtiers. 


Humpty  Dumpty 

The  Giant  Killer 

The  writer  once  saw  the  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan 
told  somewhat  in  this  way: 

The  Master  as  the  Priest. 

The  High  Sheriff  as  the  Levite. 

The  Farmer  as  the  Man  who  went  down  to  Jericho. 

The  Giant  Killer  as  the  Good  Samaritan. 

Humpty  Dumpty  as  the  Inn  Keeper. 

Johnny  Green,  Tom  Piper  and  Tommy  Snooks  as 
Robbers. 

The  Dame  as  the  Priest's  Wife. 

Mother  Hubbard  as  the  Levite's  Wife. 

The  Farmer's  Wife  as  the  Man's  Wife. 

Bo-Peep  as  the  Samaritan's  Wife. 

The  Child  Characters  as  Children  of  the  Levite,  the 
Man  who  went  to  Jericho  and  the  Good  Samaritan. 


XVIII 
THE  ENCHANTED  LAND 

As  soon  as  a  child  steps  up  to  the  dining-room  table 
upon  which  the  action  of  the  bottle  play  is  to  take  place, 
he  is  supposed  to  have  entered  the  Land  of  Make-believe, 
which  encircles  the  Enchanted  Land.  The  Enchanted  Land 
itself  is  a  table  or  any  raised  surface  about  6  feet  by  3.  The 
idea  of  a  Kingdom  placed  on  the  floor  does  not  seem  to  give 
satisfaction.  There  is  a  sort  of  inconsistency  about  it. 
The  child  feels  too  large  for  the  little  world  at  his  feet,  but 
when  the  mimic  world  is  placed  on  the  table,  the  idea  of  its 
own  completeness  is  unmixed  with  the  bigness  of  the  child's 
person.  The  arrangement  of  the  table  itself,  suggested  in 
the  following  diagram,  is  to  be  compared  with  the  frontis- 
piece. 

The  squares  marked  "platforms"  are  two  levels,  which 
may  be  made  by  boards  of  lessening  sizes,  the  smaller  at 
the  top,  set  on  glasses  or  blocks,  or  by  boxes  of  different 
sizes.  Here  stand  the  principal  characters  until  they  are 
used  in  the  story-games.  On  the  top  level  are  the  Fairy 
Godmother  and  her  attendants,  on  the  second  level  are  the 
King  and  Queen  and  the  gentry,  and  on  the  table  stand  the 
minor  characters,  the  common  folks.  The  "house"  is  where 
the  common  story-characters  usually  live  and  perform  their 
indoor  activities.  The  "lot"  is  yard,  farm  or  playground, 
as  the  case  may  be.  The  center  space  is  the  scene  of  action, 
and  the  place  marked  "witches'  brew"  is  where  all  the  mis- 
chief originates. 


THE  ENCHANTED  LANI> 


185 


186  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


HOW    THE    CHARACTERS    MOVE    ABOUT 

A  simple  way  to  get  a  stage  effect  is  to  set  the  table 
on  the  porch  against  the  window,  use  the  window  curtain 
as  the  stage  curtain  and  let  the  audience  sit  just  inside. 

When  children  play  by  themselves  they  usually  place 
all  the  characters  in  their  appropriate  stations  at  the  begin- 
ning and  pick  them  up  and  move  them  about  the  vacant 
space,  as  is  indicated  in  the  story.  When  an  adult  story- 
teller is  entertaining  the  children  it  is  better  to  have  the 
stage  vacant  at  the  beginning  and  station  the  dolls  one  by 
one,  hinting  at  their  characters  and  histories  briefly  as  she 
does  so.  She  needs  to  place  in  view  for  a  given  story  only 
such  dolls  as  are  used  in  that  story. 

You  can  see  at  once  how  to  tell  any  story  by  the  use 
of  the  dolls.  Frank  and  Ruth  "walk"  and  "talk,"  as  they 
watch  the  other  characters  in  action.  The  story  usually  be- 
gins with  the  characters  stationed  in  front  of  the  house 
door.  When  they  go  to  the  hills  the  children  come  out  to 
the  "lot,"  thence  they  may  run  down  to  where  the  witches 
are.  From  there  they  may  come  back,  tarrying  in  the  center 
space,  to  the  house.  Buttercup  comes  down  from  her  shelf 
when  she  talks  with  the  children  and  remains  near  to  watch 
over  them.  When  the  dolls  are  "talking"  they  face  each 
other,  and  the  real  children  give  the  dialogue. 


USES    FOR   THE    SAND    TABLE 

The  sand  table  makes  a  valuable  background  for  bottle- 
doll  story-telling.  Already  the  publishers  of  Sunday  school 
supplies  and  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  have  fur- 
nished us  with  tiny  character  dolls,  houses,  etc.,  which, 
mounted  on  the  hills  and  valleys  of  the  sand  table,  help 
wonderfully  in  making  real  the  background  of  a  missionary 
story.  A  small  set  of  Bottle  Dolls,  thus  arranged  upon  the 


THE  ENCHANTED  LAND  187 

sand  tray,  or,  better  still,  upon  a  sandy  beach,  may  enact 
more  satisfyingly  out-of-door  scenes  than  upon  the  flat 
dining-room  table.  Mrs.  Helen  B.  Paulsen,  an  expert  story- 
teller, who  has  found  the  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan  es- 
pecially attractive  when  told  with  Bottle  Dolls,  regards  this 
as  her  favorite  for  work  with  the  sand  background.  She 
heaps  up  the  sand  to  represent  mountains  that  are  round 
about  Jerusalem,  works  out  with  her  fingers  the  valleys  that 
lie  along  the  Jordan  and  there  gets  the  setting  for  the 
dramatic  tale,  which  she  closes  at  the  "Inn,"  which  she  sets 
up  in  a  level  place  at  the  foot  of  the  valley.  All  the  out-of- 
door  stories  given  in  this  Manual  may  be  told  with  added 
interest  with  sand  for  earth,  twigs  for  trees,  ribbons  for 
streams  and  window  glass  for  lakes  and  seas. 


THE  ALLEGORY  OF  THE  ENCHANTED  LAND 

Mrs.  Lowe  has  added  immensely  both  to  the  interest 
and  the  moral  value  of  her  system  by  devising  a  simple 
but  beautiful  framework  of  allegory  against  which  all  her 
characters  have  their  setting  and  by  reference  to  which 
all  stories  may  be  told.  A  lady  who  had  the  privilege  of 
hearing  Mrs.  Lowe  tell  her  stories  to  an  actual  circle  of 
children  describes  the  result  as  follows : 

"First,  she  introduces  the  Gypsies  in  a  scene  suggestive 
of  the  three  witches  in  Macbeth  and  impresses  the  children 
with  the  thought  that  when  they  drink  of  the  'brew*  they 
will  commit  evil  deeds.  Then  she  brings  in  the  Buttercups 
(representing  the  gold  or  good  in  our  hearts),  who  were 
created  by  the  Invisible  King,  and  at  their  own  request  were 
later  given  human  form.  (All  this  is  told  in  rhyme,  legen- 
dary style.)  Perhaps  a  sweet  little  Dutch  doll  'drinks  of  the 
brew'  (allows  her  evil  thoughts  to  dominate),  and  instantly 
the  children  catch  their  breath  with  sympathy.  (Thus  they 
learn  the  lesson  of  charity  rather  than  resentment  toward 
those  who  do  wrong.)  But  the  Invisible  King  sends  Butter- 


MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

cup  to  the  rescue.  Each  child  understands  that  by  the  In- 
visible King  is  meant  the  Great  Power  back  of  all  things, 
who  created  all  things  good,  but  somehow  the  Gypsies  crept 
in  to  do  the  deeds  of  the  Devil.  There  is  not  enough  theol- 
ogy to  cause  criticism  from  any  parent,  just  enough  to  lay 
the  foundation  for  working  out  the  idea  of  right  and  wrong 
in  all  the  practical  relations  of  everyday  life  in  the  child 
world." 

But  lest  we  introduce  confusion  at  this  point,  we  will 
not  describe  Mrs.  Lowe's  allegory  until  later.  The  descrip- 
tion in  Chapter  XIX  of  "How  to  Enter  the  Enchanted  Land" 
explains  it  as  it  appears  to  children,  and  Chapter  XX  on 
"Mary  Lowe's  Philosophy"  gives  the  whole  system. 


XIX 

HOW  TO  ENTER  THE  ENCHANTED  LAND 

After  children  have  begun  to  understand  the  bottle 
characters,  they  need  only  the  dining-room  table  for  a 
stage.  But  the  first  time  the  characters  are  explained,  either 
by  an  adult  or  a  child,  it  is  well  to  have  two  tables — a  small 
one  such  as  a  serving  table  for  placing  the  characters  before 
they  are  introduced,  and  a  larger  one  such  as  a  dining 
table  for  the  scenes  of  the  stories.  These  tables  should  be 
placed  side  by  side  about  ten  inches  apart,  and  they  may 
be  bridged  by  a  shingle.  All  the  doll  characters  should  be 
marshalled  on  the  smaller  table  in  the  order  in  which  the 
story-teller  intends  to  present  them,  those  which  are  to 
come  in  first  in  the  front  rank.  On  the  larger  table  plat- 
forms should  be  arranged  in  the  one  corner  as  on  the  chart, 
the  house  in  another,  anil  the  kettle  for  the  witch's  brew  in 
a  third. 


INTRODUCTORY   SUGGESTIONS   FOR   THE 
STORY-TELLER 

When  the  children  have  gathered  and  all  is  ready,  the 
story-teller  should  collect  them  about  the  larger  table.  There 
is  no  harm  in  letting  the  children  examine  the  dolls,  as 
they  stand  on  the  smaller  table,  before  the  story  begins, 
so  long  as  they  do  not  touch  them.  For  if  they  touch 
them,  they  are  likely  to  knock  them  down  or  disarrange 
them,  and  they  will  take  greater  interest  if  they  are  told 
that  they  are  going  to  be  allowed  to  handle  them  just  as 

189 


190  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

soon  as  the  story  is  over.  Interest  may  be  excited  by  asking 
them  to  try  and  guess  whom  each  one  of  the  dolls  represents. 
Thus  they  will  be  more  intelligent  in  making  suggestions 
when  you  begin  the  story. 

The  story-teller  should  stand  at  the  backside  of  the 
two  tables  in  such  a  position  that  she  can  readily  take 
the  dolls  from  the  front  rank  first,  and  lead  them  across 
the  bridge  and  place  them  in  the  Kingdom. 


HOW    THE    STORY-TELLER    BEGINS 

Directions  for  moving  the  characters  are  given  here 
(in  parentheses)  and  some  of  the  dialogue  is  indicated 
such  as  is  likely  to  occur  during  the  narrative.  It  is  desir- 
able to  get  the  children  to  answer  questions  and  talk  as 
much  as  possible.  Making  sure  first  that  all  are  in  a  com- 
fortable position  to  see  and  hear,  the  story-teller  may  pro- 
ceed somewhat  as  follows: 

How  many  of  you  have  ever  read  "Alice  in  Wonder- 
land"? Ah,  I  am  glad  to  see  that  so  many  of  you  have! 
You  remember  that  it  tells  all  about  Fairy  Land.  Do 
you  remember  the  place  where,  after  Alice  has  taken  the 
magic  key,  she  suddenly  finds  herself  becoming  very  little, 
so  small  that  she  can  go  right  through  the  key-hole  ?  These 
two  little  people  (taking  Frank  and  Ruth  in  each  hand  and 
carrying  them  across  the  bridge  and  placing  them  on  the 
side  of  the  table  near  the  children,  facing  them)  are  a 
boy  and  girl,  brother  and  sister,  who  have  come  over  from 
the  land  where  you  and  I  live  into  Wonderland,  and  who 
have  suddenly  become  small  just  as  Alice  did.  The  boy's 
name  is  Frank,  and  his  sister's  name  is  Ruth.  This  (point- 
ing to  the  small  table)  is  where  the  doll  people  go  to  sleep. 
But  this  (pointing  to  the  large  table)  is  the  Wonderland, 
where  all  sorts  of  strange  things  happen.  It  is  a  kingdom 
all  by  itself,  with  its  rulers,  its  nobles,  and  its  common 
people.  And  we  are  going  to  call  it  the  Enchanted  Land. 


How  TO  ENTER  THE  ENCHANTED  LAND          191 

Now  in  order  to  get  into  the  Land  you  see  these 
dolls  have  to  cross  this  bridge.  Before  they  cross  the 
bridge  they  are  just  common  bottles,  covered  with  paper 
and  cloth,  but  after  they  cross  over  the  bridge  of  Make- 
believe  then  they  become  fairy-like  people.  If  you  stand 
real  close  about  the  table  so  that  your  shoulders  touch — 
that  is  right,  stand  a  little  closer— you  will  all  be  in  the 
Land  of  Make-believe,  too,  so  that  you  can  look  right 
into  this  Enchanted  Kingdom. 


INTRODUCING   THE   PEOPLE 

A  long  time  ago  the  Invisible  King  wanted  someone 
to  rule  over  his  Kingdom  who  would  represent  all  the  love 
in  the  world.  Who  in  the  world  loves  us  best?  That's 
right,  our  fathers  and  our  mothers.  So  the  King  took 
from  his  Fairy  Land  the  Queen  of  the  Fairies,  because 
she  had  in  her  heart  the  love  of  all  the  world.  (Carry  the 
Fairy  Queen  across  and  place  her  in  the  center  of  the 
upper  platform,  and  as  her  attendants  are  mentioned,  bring 
them  over  and  place  them  beside  her.) 

Now,  of  course,  in  order  to  love,  it  is  necessary  that 
there  should  always  be  somebody  to  be  loved.  So  in  order 
to  be  sure  to  keep  her  love  alive,  the  King  gave  her  these 
Tiny  Tots,  always  to  be  with  her,  for  her  to  care  for.  Next 
he  remembered  the  flower  that  he  loved  best — the  butter- 
cup, and  he  said,  "My  children  may  sometimes  forget  to 
do  the  things  I  want  them  to  do,  so  I  will  have  this  little 
flower,  which  is  as  bright  as  a  candle,  and  have  it  to  guide 
the  children  in  the  right  way."  So  cheery  Buttercup,  the 
flower  with  the  face  of  a  child,  became  the  Queen's  mes- 
senger. 

And  for  her  other  messenger,  there  is  Alice  of  Won- 
derland— the  only  real  child  whom  you  know  who  has 
visited  the  Wonderland  that  all  the  children  love. 

This  is  Puck.     He  is  the  spirit  of  mischief.     He  flies 


192  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

about  wherever  he  chooses.  Some  find  him  very  charming, 
but  you  will  discover  that  he  is  very  unreliable. 

The  people  down  below  cannot  see  the  Fairy  Queen 
and  her  court,  but  the  Fairy  Queen  can  always  see  all  the 
children.  And  Buttercup  and  Alice  of  Wonderland  are 
always  ready  to  hasten  down  and  do  her  bidding. 

In  our  world  we  have  all  sorts  of  people,  and  so  in 
the  Kingdom  there  are  the  high  and  the  low.  Here  is 
jolly  Old  King  Cole.  We  must  have  a  King  who  can  be 
happy  as  well  as  make  the  laws,  but  though  he  is  happy 
he  is  also  stern.  And  when  any  one  does  wrong  he  shuts 
them  in  his  grim  North  Tower. 

Here  is  the  Queen — the  Queen  of  Hearts.  And  she  is 
always  teasing  him  to  be  merciful  when  he  starts  to  put 
any  poor  fellow  in  the  prison. 

Now  come  the  attendants  of  the  King  and  Queen.  This 
little  fellow  is  Jack  o'  Hearts.  Prince  Charming  is  his  other 
name.  Although  he  is  a  Prince  he  loves  his  people,  and 
they  of  course  love  him.  And  here  is  the  Giant  Killer, 
brave  although  he  is  so  little. 

Now  we  come  to  the  common  people,  and  there  are  a 
lot  of  them.  I  must  bring  in  the  ladies  first.  (Bring  them 
in  three  at  a  time,  but  separate  each  one  and  clearly  explain 
who  she  is  before  placing  her  on  the  table  near  the  house.) 
Here  are  some  of  the  older  ones.  Can  you  guess  who  this 
is?  She  lives  all  alone  with  her  dog,  and  her  cupboard  is 
often  bare,  because  she  is  away  gossiping  so  much.  Yes, 
this  is  old  Mother  Hubbard.  And  who  is  this  who  cut  off 
the  tails  of  some  mice  with  her  carving  knife?  Yes,  the 
Farmer's  Wife.  She  is  the  mother  of  Bo-Peep  and  Boy 
Blue.  She  has  to  work  very  hard  taking  care  of  her  house 
and  her  children. 

Lena  is  a  little  waif  from  the  city.  She  is  so  thoughtless 
and  listens  so  much  to  Puck's  mischief,  that  although  she 
means  no  harm  she  is  often  in  trouble. 

Mary  Contrary — can  you  say  the  verse  about  her? 
Yes,  that's  right.  She  is  a  good-hearted  school  girl  who 


How  TO  ENTER  THE  ENCHANTED  LAND          193 

loves  her  pretty  garden.  And  can  you  say  the  one  about 
Polly  Flinders?  You  can  guess  what  she  is  like.  She  is 
a  school  girl,  too,  and  a  friend  of  Mary's,  but  so  slovenly 
that  sometimes  she  gets  into  the  cinders.  And  here  is 
Little  Miss  Muffet,  who  is  always  getting  scared  to  death 
over  nothing. 

Who  was  it  who  lost  her  sheep  and  had  to  go  back 
to  find  them?  Yes,  Bo-Peep.  Whose  child  do  you  think 
she  is — not  the  banker's  nor  the  minister's.  Yes,  she  is 
the  farmer's  daughter.  Who  is  it  that  is  dressed  in  a  red 
cloak,  and  is  always  having  surprising  adventures?  You 
are  right,  it  is  Little  Red  Riding  Hood.  And  here  is  a  child 
almost  grown  up,  who  goes  to  walk  on  Sunday.  Her  name 
is  Bessie  Brooks. 

Here  are  three  men.  First  is  the  Farmer  who  married 
the  Farmer's  Wife,  and  who  is  the  father  of  Bo-Peep  and 
Little  Boy  Blue.  Here  is  the  policeman  who  arrests  the 
bad  children,  and  brings  them  to  Old  King  Cole.  And  here 
is  the  Giant  of  whom  everybody  is  afraid. 

Here  are  three  boys  whom  you  know  the  policeman  has 
to  watch.  Do  you  remember  what  Little  Johnny  Green 
did  ?  Yes,  he  is  sometimes  very  cruel.  And  do  you  recall 
the  lad  who  sat  in  the  corner,  and  who  was  so  greedy, 
and  who  boasted  how  big  he  was  ?  This,  of  course,  is  little 
Jack  Horner.  And  this  boy  sometimes  takes  things,  "stole 
a  pig  and  away  he  ran."  His  name  is  Tom  Piper. 

Here  are  three  more  whom  you  may  like  better.  The 
little  boy  who  blows  his  cheerful  horn.  Yes,  Little  Boy 
Blue.  And  who  is  his  sister?  Yes,  he  is  the  brother  of 
Little  Bo-Peep.  Who  is  it  that  goes  around  in  the  night 
at  eight  o'clock,  and  doesn't  want  to  go  to  bed  ?  Wee  Willie 
Winkie.  And  this  is  the  biggest  of  the  boys — Tommy 
Snooks.  He  and  Bessie  Brooks  are  sweethearts.  Tommy 
is  supposed  to  work  for  the  Farmer.  These  boys  and  girls 
are  never  bad  unless  they  drink  of  the  Witch's  brew. 

This  is  Sister  Marie.  (She  may  be  explained  either 
as  a  nurse  or  a  deaconess.)  She  is  always  where  there  are 


194  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

people  in  sickness  or  trouble.  She  lives  entirely  for  others. 
How  beautiful  she  is! 

But  who  is  this  ugly  creature?  She  belongs  over  here 
by  the  big  kettle.  This  is  the  Witch.  (Three  witches  may 
be  used.)  She  certainly  does  not  belong  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Love.  In  fact  I  must  explain  that  all  this  corner  around 
the  Witch's  brew  is  known  as  the  Lonesome  Land.  It  is 
very  far,  indeed,  from  the  Enchanted  Land,  although  as 
you  will  see,  sometimes  the  children  stray  down  into  it. 

And  last,  with  a  tiny  baby  in  her  arms,  comes  the 
Lovely  Lady.  She  is  the  mother  of  Ruth  and  Frank.  She 
is  your  mother  and  mine,  and  when  she  comes  into  the  King- 
dom with  her  children,  it  is  always  to  protect  them  and  to 
help  them. 

Now,  I  want  to  tell  you  a  little  story  which  shows 
how  a  real  boy  and  girl  found  their  way  into  the  Enchanted 
Land.  (The  statements  in  parentheses  which  follow  are 
stage  directions  for  the  story-teller.  Very  few  are  given, 
so  as  not  to  interrupt  the  current  of  the  story,  but  wherever 
action  is  suggested,  the  story-teller  should  imitate  it  by  cor- 
responding action  with  the  dolls  who  are  being  named.) 


FRANK  ENTERS  THE  ENCHANTED  LAND 

Once  there  was  a  girl  named  Ruth  (The  story-teller 
stands  Ruth  near  the  front  of  the  table,  where  the  children 
can  see  her)  who  could  see  the  fairies.  She  had  a  brother 
whose  name  was  Frank.  (Stand  Frank  on  the  smaller 
table  or  else  upon  the  teacher's  outstretched  palm.)  Frank 
could  never  see  the  fairies.  Often  Ruth  would  say  to 
Frank,  "Come  over  here  through  the  Land  of  Make-believe 
where  the  leaves  have  fallen,  and  I  will  show  you  real,  live 
fairies." 

Frank  would  try  to  follow  her,  but  there  always  seemed 
to  be  a  big  white  cloud  between  him  and  the  Land  of  Make- 


How  TO  ENTER  THE  ENCHANTED  LAND          195 

believe.     He  would  get  as  close  as  he  could  to  Ruth,  and 
then  he  would  say,  "Where  are  they?" 

"Hush!"  she  would  whisper.  "Breathe  softly.  Fold 
your  hands  so.  Listen  carefully,  and  I  will  tell  you  how 
to  look  for  them.  They  are  so  beautiful,  and  oh!  so  tiny 
and  sweet,  dressed  in  green  and  brown,  or  sometimes  in  red 
and  yellow.  Their  faces  are  so  cute  and  smiling,  and  every 
minute  they  seem  to  change.  When  you  know  them,  and 
can  see  them,  they  will  seem  to  you  like  a  beautiful  dream. 
The  brown  and  green  will  mix  themselves  so  that  you  will 
think  they  are  fallen  leaves,  shaken  down  by  the  wind,  for 
they  are  continually  dancing  to  the  music  of  the  breeze. 
Listen!" 

Ruth  would  clasp  her  hands,  and  sit  very  still,  with  a 
happy  expression  on  her  face. 

"There!  Did  you  not  hear  them?  Can  you  not  see 
them?" 

But  Frank  would  always  say  sorrowfully,  "No,  it's  too 
bad,  but  I  can't  see  them,  and  I  don't  believe  in  them." 

"What  a  pity  for  you,  Frank.  You  believe  in  ugly 
things,  and  some  of  them  you  never  saw,  either.  Well, 
I  cannot  lend  you  my  eyes,  nor  make  you  love  fairies, — you 
do  not  understand  what  you  miss.  It  is  just  as  if  you 
were  blind,  and  could  not  see  the  flowers  or  the  blue  sky." 

One  day  when  Ruth  was  at  home  (The  story-teller  sets 
Ruth  down  on  the  small  table.)  Frank  was  playing  alone 
on  the  beach,  building  caves  in  the  sand.  He  was  lonesome. 
There  was  no  fun  playing  in  the  water  without  Ruth.  After 
a  while  he  left  the  sand,  and  climbed  the  bank  and  found 
the  nook  where  Ruth  had  told  fairy  tales  so  often.  The 
leaves  were  scattered  about.  He  gathered  a  mound  of 
them,  and  with  his  curly  head  lying  on  his  cap,  and  his 
round  limbs  half  buried  in  the  leaves,  he  decided  that  he 
would  wait  until  the  fairies  came.  If  he  could  not  go  where 
the  fairies  were,  perhaps  they  would  come  to  him.  "Ruth 
will  be  so  pleased  if  I  should  see  them,"  he  thought.  Soon 


196  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Frank's  eyes  grew  heavy.  "I  hope  I  am  not  going  to 
sleep,"  he  said  slowly. 

All  of  a  sudden  Frank  found  himself  in  the  Land  of 
Make-believe.  Some  unseen  hand  seemed  to  be  leading 
him  forward.  (The  story-teller  takes  Frank  across  the 
bridge  from  the  small  table,  to  the  Enchanted  Land,  and 
laying  him  down,  covers  him  with  leaves.) 

As  soon  as  Frank  had  crossed  over  into  the  Enchanted 
Land,  he  felt  a  soft  tap  on  his  hand.  Looking  down,  he  saw 
a  very  tiny  person  smiling  at  him. 

"I  am  the  Fairy  Queen,"  she  said.  (Stand  the  Fairy 
Queen  close  to  Frank.) 

Frank  sat  up,  and  found  himself  no  larger  than  his 
small  visitor.  Then  he  noticed  that  the  fairy  looked  very 
much  like  Ruth,  only  a  thousand  times  smaller. 

"How  are  you,  Fairy  Queen?"  he  said  boldly. 

"I  am  always  well,"  she  answered  in  a  very  sweet 
voice.  "Frank,  you  may  come  with  me  and  see  all  the 
fairies  that  visit  these  woods.  They  are  all  in  Fairyland 
to-day." 

He  took  her  little  hand,  and  found  himself  able  to 
move  with  a  thought.  Light  as  air,  free  as  a  sunbeam, 
happy  as  a  bird,  he  floated  through  space  with  the  Fairy 
Queen.  (Suit  the  action  to  the  words.) 

"Where  is  Fairyland?"  he  whispered  softly.  He  had 
lost  his  big  boyish  voice. 

"Here  we  are !"  said  the  Fairy  Queen. 

Frank  found  himself  in  a  high  and  beautiful  place, 
which  seemed  to  be  above  the  clouds.  Many  bright  colors 
danced  before  his  eyes.  He  was  at  first  too  dazed  to 
see  clearly.  When  he  became  accustomed  to  the  light 
he  saw  a  cloud  of  tiny  creatures  coming  toward  them, 
merrily  waving  a  welcome.  (Move  the  Tiny  Tots  toward 
the  Fairy  Queen.)  Coming  near,  they  knelt  an  instant 
before  the  Queen,  and  then  began  the  most  bewildering 
fairy  dance  conceivable.  Frank's  feet  danced  in  spite  of 
himself. 


How  TO  ENTER  THE  ENCHANTED  LAND          197 

I  cannot  begin  to  tell  you  of  the  adventures  that  fol- 
lowed. The  Tiny  Tots  took  Frank  to  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  where  he  saw  baby  fairies,  nestling  among  the  sea- 
weeds, soothed  by  all  the  tender  lullabies  that  the  happy 
earth  mothers  sing  to  their  babies.  -They  took  him  to 
mountain  tops,  where  the  other  baby  fairies  were  playing 
"Hide-and-Seek"  among  the  clouds.  They  led  him  to  the 
fairy  kitchen,  where  fairy  cooks  were  laboriously  rolling  a 
blue  plum  up  an  incline  onto  the  edge  of  a  table,  preparing 
to  make  an  enormous  plum  pudding. 

Finally,  they  took  him  to  a  broad  meadow  near  a 
clear,  silvery  river.  Here  fairy  boys  and  fairy  girls  were 
playing  together.  (Bring  the  Tiny  Tots  and  Frank  down 
to  the  table.)  Frank  seemed  to  have  lost  sight  of  the 
Fairy  Queen.  He  played  ball  for  a  while  with  the  fairy 
boys.  And  then  they  sat  down  on  the  grass  beside  the 
river,  and  told  him  about  the  wonderful  moonlight  feast 
that  was  to  be  held  that  evening.  It  seemed  that  the  girl 
fairies  would  do  the  cooking,  but  some  of  the  boy  fairies 
were  jealous,  because  they  wanted  to  show  that  they  were 
better  cooks  than  the  girls. 

"Why  don't  you  rebel?"  said  Frank,  in  a  bold  voice 
as  much  as  possible  like  that  he  had  used  before  he  came 
to  the  Enchanted  Land. 

"What  is  'rebel'?"  asked  one  of  the  fairy  boys. 

"I  will  show  you,"  said  Frank,  throwing  out  his  chest ; 
he  wanted  to  show  off  a  little  to  the  boys.  "It  is  like  this :" 
and  he  opened  his  tiny  mouth,  and  called  as  loud  as  he 
could,  "Ha,  ha!  old  Fairy  Queen,  we  boys  will  make  the 
cake  to-night  for  the  midnight  party.  Don't  think  you  can 
command  us" 

Before  he  had  quite  closed  his  naughty  lips,  he  found 
himself  as  large  as  life.  (The  story-teller  suddenly  snatches 
Frank  and  the  leaves,  and  holds  them  up  in  the  air.)  He 
looked  about  frightened.  Not  a  fairy  boy  in  sight!  He 
ran  as  fast  as  he  could  to  the  edge  of  Fairyland.  There 
was  the  cloud  that  had  brought  him  safely  across.  He 


198  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

stepped  upon  it.  He  was  too  heavy,  and  went  down,  down. 
(Drop  Frank  slowly.)  Now  he  is  going  through  a  damp 
fog  that  chills  to  the  bone;  then  into  glaring  light,  but 
always  down  and  down,  swiftly  whirling  round  and  round. 
Poor  Frank !  He  wondered  if  he  would  be  crushed  very 
much  when  he  hit  the  ground.  Soon  he  heard  Ruth  calling : 

"Frank !  Frank !  where  are  you  ?" 

He  was  back  again  in  the  woods  above  the  beach  (Lay 
Frank  down  again  among  the  leaves,  and  bring  up  Ruth.) 
and  Ruth  was  beside  him.  When  she  had  heard  his  story, 
and  looked  into  his  eyes,  she  saw  that  he  was  both  happy 
and  frightened. 

"I  did  see  the  fairies,  Ruth,"  said  Frank,  "but  I  hol- 
lered at  the  Fairy  Queen,  and  I  think  she  sent  me  out  of 
Fairyland.  I  guess  the  reason  you  are  wiser  than  I  is 
because  you  believe  things  so  hard  it  makes  them  come 
true,"  Frank  finished  shyly. 

"And  the  reason  why  you  seldom  see  things  is  because 
you  doubt  so  strongly,  they  won't  come  true." 

They  both  laughed  contentedly,  and  began  clearing  a 
space  on  the  sand  for  cave  building. 


XX 

MARY  LOWE'S  PHILOSOPHY 

To  Mary  Lowe  the  bottle  characters  are  not  a  mere 
play,  they  are  a  life.  She  has  given  to  them  the  same 
painstaking  experiment  that  Froebel  and  Montessori  did 
to  the  Kindergarten  and  the  House  of  Childhood.  She  took 
four  boys  to  bring  up,  and  their  home  education  was  with 
the  bottle  people.  For  over  a  dozen  years  she  has  worked 
with  groups  of  children,  large  and  small,  with  her  plan. 
In  one  instance  at  least,  long  enough  so  that  the  whole 
village  of  children  was  making  bottle  dolls.  A  number 
of  these  children  had  accumulated  families  of  three  hundred 
of  them,  and  several  years  after  Mrs.  Lowe  had  gone  away 
they  were  retelling  her  stories  and  telling  their  own. 

Out  of  this  experience  a  number  of  convictions  came  to 
Mrs.  Lowe. 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  EDUCATION  OF 
THE  HEART 

One  of  these  convictions  was  that  a  child  lives  in  a 
world  of  sentiment  as  well  as  of  sense.  She  finds  that  the 
sentiments  rule  the  senses.  She  is  in  unconscious  harmony 
with  G.  Stanley  Hall  and  other  modern  teachers  who  tell 
us  that  the  most  important  part  of  education  is  the  educa- 
tion of  the  heart  and  with  that  ancient  philosopher  of  the 
Hebrews  who  said  that  "Out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues 
of  life."  She  knows  that  the  child  will  have  to  act  in  a 
workaday  world,  but  she  believes  that  his  spirit  both  now 

199 


200  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

and  always  may  live  in  a  world  of  fancy,  not  of  disordered 
fancy  but  of  poetic  insight.  She  sides  with  Froebel  rather 
than  with  Montessori  in  giving  a  distinct  and  large  place 
to  imagination,  and  she  goes  further  than  Froebel,  because 
she  shows  how  imagination  may  be  cultivated  until  the 
twelfth  or  fourteenth  year.  "Make-believe,"  said  Mary 
Lowe  to  me  once,  '  'comes  nearer  to  experience  than  any 
other  condition  of  mind.  Every  child  formulates  in  his 
imagination  acts  that  he  would  never  himself  perform.  But 
if  he  imagines  them  he  is  more  likely  to  be  willing  to 
perform  them.  If  we  can  devise  a  plan  that  will  direct  the 
imagination  in  right  channels,  we  are  not  only  giving 
the  child  imitation-experiences  of  what  is  good  but  we  are 
inclining  him  to  do  what  is  good.  In  other  words,  the  imag- 
ination should  be  as  finely  drilled  as  the  reason." 


THE    NATURALNESS    OF    MORAL    REFLEC- 
TION   TO    CHILDREN 

Another  thing  that  Mrs.  Lowe  has  noticed  is  that 
children  are  serious-minded  people.  We  adults  separate 
Sunday  from  the  other  days  of  the  week,  we  distinguish 
between  the  sacred  and  the  secular,  we  live  hours  when  we 
are  consciously  good  or  bad  and  hours  when  we  are  uncon- 
scious of  moral  attitudes.  Mrs.  Lowe  finds  that  children 
do  not  make  these  distinctions,  which  are  wholly  arbitrary. 
To  us  moral  reflection  is  unnatural  when  we  play,  but  to 
the  child  it  is  common.  Indeed  since  he  is  playing  most  of 
the  time  he  would  not  have  much  chance  for  such  reflection 
otherwise.  So  for  children  to  engage  in  play  in  which 
they  find  themselves  judging  moral  issues  is  not  unusual, 
but  general.  If  you  have  listened  to  young  children  playing 
together  you  must  have  noted  how  often  they  judge  them- 
selves or  each  other  vocally.  And  this  is  the  best  way  for 
them  to  learn  to  judge,  for  it  is  the  active  way.  It  would  not 
be  strange  if  a  child  would  be  advanced  further  in  moral  dis- 


MARY  LOWE'S  PHILOSOPHY  201 

criminations  and  demeanor  by  playing  with  bottle  dolls 
than  by  sitting  and  listening  to  or  watching  the  most  expert 
Sunday  school  teacher. 


CHILDHOOD'S   NEED   OF  A   MIMIC  WORLD 
TO    PRACTICE   IN 

Mrs.  Lowe's  great  contribution  is  that  she  has  fur- 
nished to  children  during  their  most  imaginative  and  dra- 
matic years  a  mimic  world  filled  with  people,  in  which  they 
can  become  partners  in  realistic  experiences  that  involve 
the  principal  problems  of  life.  These  experiences  she 
enables  them  to  have,  as  they  must  have  them  later,  in  the 
form  of  questions  rather  than  of  answers,  and  she  depends 
upon  that  inner  voice  which  was  given  the  child  at  the 
start  to  tell  for  himself  what  those  answers  are. 

This  is  the  essential  contribution  that  Mrs.  Lowe  has 
made  to  education.  The  fact  that  her  own  characters  are 
made  of  bottles  rather  than  of  bisque  is  a  non-essential 
one.  Bottles  are  common  and  cheap  and  it  is  an  intellectual 
stimulus  that  the  child  should  be  forced  to  clothe  them  with 
life  and  with  individual  characteristics.  But  the  material 
is  a  matter  of  personal  choice.  The  choice  of  characters 
which  she  has  made  is  non-essential.  It  was  a  happy 
thought  that  she  should  have  chosen  the  characters  of  the 
best-known  children's  classics,  associated  already  with 
jingles  which  just  suggest  personalities,  but  other  charac- 
ters may  be  substituted  or  added,  as  she  herself  has  done, 
so  long  as  the  children  accept  them  and  understand  them. 
Her  stories  are  the  expression  of  her  philosophy,  but  other 
stories  could  contain  and  do  contain  a  good  philosophy,  and 
as  the  most  valuable  result  in  her  experience  has  been  that 
children  compose  stories  which  express  their  own  philoso- 
phy, so  she  would  be  pleased  if  adult  story-tellers  should 
make  up  stories  which  even  better  express  their  philosophy 
or  hers.  Mrs.  Lowe's  stories  are  to  be  judged,  as  we  judge 


202  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Froebel's  verses,  not  by  literary  standards  but  by  one 
criterion  only,  whether  they  convey  adequately  to  children 
what  she  has  to  say.  It  seems  to  the  writer  that  they  do. 
During  the  composition  of  this  volume  these  stories,  were 
used  by  an  expert  story-teller  for  six  months  in  a  circuit 
of  a  dozen  towns,  to  which  she  returned  at  frequent  and 
regular  intervals,  and  her  testimony  was  of  growing  en- 
thusiasm to  the  effect  that  no  stories  were  equal  to  these 
simple  ones  of  Mrs.  Lowe's  for  use  with  her  system.  This 
story-teller  herself  has  an  unusual  repertoire  of  child's 
stories  and  she  used  them  and  still  uses  some  of  them,  but 
the  stories  of  Mrs.  Lowe  proved  after  all  to  be  fundamental 
and  essential.  Mrs.  Lowe  does  not  claim,  any  more  than 
Froebel  did,  that  her  rhymes  are  poetry,  but  as  she  says, 
"Children  get  an  idea  through  jingling  verses  quicker  than 
any  other  way,"  and  she  just  carries  the  Mother  Goose 
method  a  little  further. 

It  seemed  needful  first  to  give  the  reader,  for  the  sake 
of  clear  apprehension,  the  scheme  as  it  is  presented  to 
children.  Now  for  the  philosophy  which  underlies  the  plan. 
The  reader  may  use  it  or  not  as  he  chooses,  but  here  it  is 
and  it  is  a  good  philosophy,  and  if  it  is  absorbed  in  the 
story-teller's  mind  and  heart  it  will,  whether  it  is  ever  put 
into  words  or  not  to  children,  give  a  richer  meaning  to 
every  use  of  the  bottle  characters. 


THE   MEANING   OF   THIS   MIMIC   WORLD 

Mrs.  Lowe's  cosmogony,  if  we  may  use  such  a  pre- 
tentious word,  is  this.  The  Enchanted  Land  represents 
the  imagination  of  a  child.  This  Land  is  entirely  sur- 
rounded by  the  Land  of  Make-believe,  because  the  En- 
chanted Land  is  a  condition  into  which  nobody  can  enter 
who  cannot  "believe."  Outside  this  lies  the  everyday  world, 
where  we  spend  most  of  our  time.  In  a  special  corner  of 
the  Land  of  Make-believe  is  the  Lonesome  Land,  or  the 


MARY  LOWE'S  PHILOSOPHY  203 

Land  of  Negation,  as  Mrs.  Lowe  sometimes  has  to  call 
it,  the  land  of  wrong  fancy  and  evil  desire.  It  is  in  the 
Land  of  Make-believe  because,  as  Mrs.  Lowe  says,  "A  real 
unbeliever  makes  believe  more  than  anybody  else."  This  is 
the  land  where  the  witches  and  other  evils  come  from. 
Over  all  these  lands  is  the  Kingdom  of  Love,  where  the 
Invisible  King  watches  and  the  Spirit  of  Love,  represented 
by  the  Fairy  Godmother,  rules.  In  playing,  the  table  repre- 
sents the  Enchanted  Land  and  the  upper  platform  is  a  part 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Love.  Just  about  the  table  is  the  Land 
of  Make-believe  through  which  the  children  pass  to  the 
Enchanted  Land.  From  outside  this  boundary  (perhaps 
from  another  table)  come  the  witches,  from  the  Lonesome 
Land,  invading  the  Enchanted  Land  in  that  corner  where 
they  make  their  brew.  The  idea  may  be  represented  by 
chart  (p.  204). 

The  smaller  table  where  the  dolls  are  assembled  before 
they  are  brought  into  action  has  no  especial  meaning  in 
the  allegory.  The  children  simply  think  of  it  as  "The 
place  where  the  doll  people  go  to  sleep."  Some  story-tellers 
dispense  with  this  spare  table  altogether  and  always  assem- 
ble all  the  characters  in  their  places  in  the  Enchanted  Land. 

You  remember  the  description  of  the  Enchanted  Land 
(in  Chapter  XIX)  before  the  witches  entered.  That  Land 
represented  the  imagination  of  a  child  who  does  not  yet 
know  right  from  wrong.  When  the  fire  started  that  even- 
tually brought  forth  the  witches  (Mrs.  Lowe  does  not  go 
further  into  the  question  of  the  origin  of  evil)  the  innocent 
children  fled.  In  their  place  came  the  more  matured  chil- 
dren of  the  Invisible  King.  These  know  the  nature  of  the 
brew.  What  happened  to  Adam  and  Eve  in  the  second 
chapter  of  Genesis  happens  to  each  individual  of  the  race. 
Note  especially  that  the  children  in  the  Enchanted  Land 
have  intelligent  imagination.  In  the  Land  of  Make-believe 
people  may  believe  anything,  in  the  Lonesome  Land  they 
believe  in  nothing.  To  believe  in  everything  is  bad,  but  to 
believe  in  nothing  is  fatal.  In  the  Enchanted  Land,  which 


204 


MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


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MARY  LOWE'S  PHILOSOPHY  205 

is  Life,  over  which  Love  broods,  we  may  use  imagination 
intelligently  to  choose  the  good  and  turn  from  the  evil. 

The  great  value  of  Mrs.  Lowe's  philosophy  as  it  is  used 
with  children  is  right  here  in  helping  them  learn  the  first 
lessons  of  life's  great  moral  duel.  Somehow  much  of  our 
moral  and  religious  teaching  of  young  children  has  no 
blood  and  iron  in  it.  It  is  sentimental  rather  than  intelli- 
gent. It  makes  excuses  for  children  when  they  would 
not  make  excuses  for  themselves,  for  they  are  more  keen 
about  right  and  wrong  than  we  know.  In  every  story  Mrs. 
Lowe  has  this  underlying  thought:  a  child  may  do  some 
careless  or  foolish  things,  but  he  cannot  do  wrong  unless 
he  has  tasted  of  the  brew,  and  he  never  tastes  of  the  brew 
unless  he  chooses  to.  So  Mrs.  Lowe  from  the  start  would 
build  a  life  on  the  old  majestic  doctrine  of  the  freedom  of 
the  will.  Here  is  will  training  of  the  finest  value. 


THE    SIGNIFICANCE    OF    SOME    OF   THE 
CHARACTERS 

Several  of  the  characters  have  import  beyond  the 
others.  Frank  and  Ruth  are  Everyboy  and  Everygirl,  and 
through  their  personalities  the  children  project  their  own 
into  the  Enchanted  Country.  (Later  some  children  prefer 
to  identify  themselves  with  other  characters  whom  they 
learn  to  visualize  even  more  strongly.)  Frank  and  Ruth 
are  naturally  usually  spectators  rather  than  actors,  because 
like  the  Greek  Chorus  they  represent  the  attitude  of  the 
onlookers,  and  the  story-teller  uses  them  skilfully  to  say 
what  he  believes  his  real  children  are  thinking.  In  their 
viewpoint  Frank  and  Ruth  represent  what  is  often  known 
as  the  masculine  and  the  feminine  attitude.  Frank  is  the 
natural  doubter  and  Ruth  has  the  intuitive  feeling  for  truths 
that  are  beyond  human  experience.  At  the  close  of  one 
of  Mrs.  Lowe's  stories  Frank  says  to  Ruth:  "The  reason 
why  you  are  so  wise  is  because  you  believe  in  things  so 


206  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

hard  that  you  make  them  come  true,"  and  Ruth  replies: 
"And  the  reason  why  you  so  seldom  see  things  is  because 
you  doubt  so  strongly,  that  they  won't  come  true."  These 
two  attitudes  are  to  be  maintained  in  all  their  dialogues. 
The  slow  acceptance  of  Ruth's  ideas  is  perfectly  natural 
and  impresses  the  child  who  follows  the  processes  of 
Frank's  thoughts.  In  the  end  he  leaves  the  doubts  to 
Frank  and  himself  accepts  the  Ideal. 

If  the  Bottle  People  had  been  invented  by  a  man, 
perhaps  Frank  would  occupy  a  more  glorious  place  in  the 
story.  The  endeavors  of  Frank  after  knowledge  might  have 
had  a  more  triumphant  conclusion,  because  they  were  on  the 
whole  so  praiseworthy.  Indeed  when  a  man  tells  these 
stories  he  may  emphasize  more  strongly  the  masculine  side  of 
virtue.  The  Fairy  Godmother  may  turn  out  to  show  the 
spirit  of  father-love  as  well  as  mother-love,  King  Cole  may 
become  a  very  wise  and  vigorous  parent  and  even  the 
Farmer  may  be  vitalized  to  become  quite  a  respectable  and 
thoughtful  adult  companion  to  the  children.  All  this  goes 
to  show  that  we  each  have  our  own  world,  and  that  what- 
ever it  is  like  we  may  reproduce  it  with  the  Mother  Goose 
kingdom. 

Not  much  is  said  about  the  Invisible  King.  Beautifully 
Mrs.  Lowe  tells  us  that  because  he  has  the  hearts  of  all 
children  in  his  heart  he  of  his  own  motion  made  the 
Enchanted  Land  in  which  each  child  may  live.  The  Fairy 
Godmother  or  Fairy  Queen  has  already  been  imagined  by 
children  always  as  being  all  that  we  call  Providence,  and 
we  cannot  better  make  the  latter  term  vital. 

Buttercup  is  the  better  nature  of  the  child  that  always 
speaks  out  when  he  is  tempted  to  drink  the  brew.  "It  is 
part  of  ourselves,  the  something  that  makes  for  righteous- 
ness." Appropriately  she  lives  close  to  the  Fairy  Queen. 
"She  is  not  th'e  child's  Ego,  but  his  character,"  his  truest 
character.  Ruth  feels ;  but  Buttercup  guides. 

If  the  upper  platform  is  the  Kingdom  of  Love,  then 


MARY  LOWE'S  PHILOSOPHY  207 

the  lower  one  where  King  Cole  reigns  is  the  Kingdom  of 
Law.  The  children  who  will  not  be  ruled  by  love  must  be 
ruled  by  law. 

The  characters  that  are  suggested  and  others  that  may 
be  invented  represent  the  commonest  types  of  child  charac- 
ter. The  few  adults  give  some  chance  for  showing  how  the 
child  comes  into  contact  with  the  adult  world. 

Literally,  it  must  be  confessed,  each  character  is  not 
so  much  a  complete  human  personality  as  a  type  or  ten- 
dency. Little  Johnny  Green,  when  under  the  influence  of 
the  brew,  throws  the  cat  into  the  well  and  he  simply  echoes 
that  tendency  to  cruelty  which  a  child  recognizes  as  one 
of  his  own  tendencies.  Wee  Willie  Winkie  wants  to  sit  up 
after  bedtime  and  thus  represents  the  frequent  wish  in  the 
child's  own  mind.  It  would  take  all  the  children  of  the 
doll  characters  to  make  one  complete,  well-rounded  individ- 
ual. The  child  recognizes  this  and  selects  each  doll  for  a 
special  purpose  somewhat  as  he  selects  a  note  upon  the 
piano,  combining  it  with  others  into  a  tune. 

Among  all  these  Lena  occupies  a  unique  place.  Lena 
represents  the  situation  in  which  a  child  most  often  finds 
himself.  She  never  drinks  of  the  brew,  but  she  often 
listens  to  what  Puck  whispers  (and  we  all  know  what  Puck 
is  like)  and  so  with  perfectly  good  intention  and  complete 
fearlessness  she  often  does  what  is  unfortunate.  She  repre- 
sents the  careless  and  inexperienced  youngster  who  is  con- 
stantly being  surprised  by  his  own  actions  and  their  conse- 
quences, and  whose  confession  might  well  be  that  of  the 
notorious  Boss  Tweed,  "I  tried  to  be  good,  but  I  had  hard 
luck." 

Mary  Lowe  once  quoted  Socrates  to  me,  who  said,  "No 
young  man  can  be  a  philosopher."  And  she  added :  "You 
can  teach  philosophy  when  you  are  young,  but  whether  you 
are  a  philosopher  only  the  test  of  experience  can  prove." 
Lena  is,  like  other  young  people,  learning  through  experi- 
ence a  philosophy  of  life. 


208  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

"Lena  is  one  of  the  characters  who  is  never  allowed 
to  drink  of  the  brew.  When  she  does  wrong  the  children 
all  say,  'Oh,  poor  Lena!  She  doesn't  mean  to  be  bad/ 
No  child  really  means  to  be  bad,  and  only  needs  correction 
that  it  may  learn  to  do  good.  There  is  nothing  to  blame 
a  child  or  grown-up  for  but  doing  the  wrong  thing,  in  spite 
of  Buttercup." 

Lena  is  evidently  Mary  Lowe's  favorite.  Indeed  some- 
where she  has  confessed  that  she  often  sees  her  own  self 
reflected  in  this  eager,  restless  child.  "Lena,"  she  writes,  "is 
the  character  that  I  was  going  to  base  the  book  on.  The 
Lovely  Lady  goes  with  her.  Because  Lena  was  born  with  a 
lack,  and  the  only  hope  for  her  is  that  she  must  be  brought 
to  realize  herself  and  grow  her  own  principles,  the  work  of 
such  persons  as  the  Lovely  Lady  must  be  done  with  children 
like  her."  When  Mary  Lowe  says  that  Lena  was  born  with 
a  lack,  she  does  not  mean  that  she  was  mentally  lacking,  or 
that,  as  Puck  so  often  says,  she  is  really  "stupid  Dutch 
Lena."  She  is,  like  all  young  children,  not  immoral,  just 
unmoral,  and  the  only  reason  Puck  thinks  her  stupid  is 
because  she  is  inexperienced.  From  the  adult  standpoint 
little  children  often  appear  stupid ;  they  do  need  wisdom, 
but  it  can  come  only  with  years  and  adult  guidance. 

Puck  is  the  spirit  of  irresponsibility.  He  does  not  really 
love  Lena,  though  he  claims  to.  How  can  he,  since  he  has 
never  been  willing  to  drink  of  the  King's  Potion  ?  He  has 
not  the  evil  character  of  the  witches,  for  he  never  tastes 
their  brew,  but  his  mischief  leads  other  people  to  drink  it, 
and  so  he  hardly  shines  in  any  fairer  light  than  they. 


"THE    BREW" 

The  witches  are  the  avenue  through  which  the  child 
is  led  to  do  wrong.  They  are  the  voice  of  temptation. 
Their  song  is  a  chant  in  minor  chords.  Like  the  minor 
chords  that  are  heard  in  the  storm  wind  this  harmony  kis 


MARY  LOWE'S  PHILOSOPHY  209 

a  charm  of  its  own.  The  words  which  the  witches  use  are 
good  words,  but  they  misrepresent  and  they  are  falsely 
used. 

When  children  learn  about  the  brew  in  the  stories  and 
the  harm  of  it,  they  always  suggest:  "Take  the  witches 
out."  And  when  they  insistently  remain  the  children  de- 
mand that  none  of  the  characters  shall  drink  of  it.  Mary 
Lowe  says  that  she  is  sure  that  if  she  ever  allowed  Frank, 
the  Everyboy,  to  drink  of  the  brew  she  "would  lose  the 
respect  of  many  of  her  young  friends."  But,  as  in  life, 
the  brew  is  there  and  the  witches  are  there,  and  "how," 
asks  Mary  Lowe;  "in  any  other  way  could  the  children 
get  anything  more  near  to  a  real  experience  of  life?" 

The  Lonesome  Land  is  lonesome  not  only  on  account 
of  the  lonely  misery  with  which  the  child  is  familiar  after 
he  has  done  wrong,  but  for  a  deeper  reason.  It  is  the 
opposite  of  faith  rather  than  of  goodness.  The  lesson  of 
life,  of  the  Enchanted  Land,  is  that  of  teachableness.  Those 
in  the  Lonesome  Land,  who  believe  nothing,  are  the  un- 
teachable. 

"  They  wrought  in  faith/  and  not  They  wrought  in  doubt/ 
Is  the  proud  epitaph  inscribed  above 
Our  glorious  Dead  who  in  their  grandeur  lie, 
Crowned  with  the  garland  of  Eternity. 
Because  they  did  believe,  and  conquered  Doubt, 
They  lived  great  lives  and  did  their  deathless  deeds." 

So  Mrs.  Lowe  thinks,  and  she  would  build  a  child's  faith, 
beyond  creeds,  in  the  basis  of  experiment  and  trust  in  the 
practicability  and  joy  of  right  living. 

The  brew  is  handled  skilfully.  The  child  may  drink 
of  it,  but  it  is  something  separate  from  the  child.  This  is 
important,  for  it  helps  the  child  to  be  less  critical  of  others 
and  to  feel  less  resentment  at  human  ill-doing,  and  it  gives 
him  hope  to  know  that  the  brew  is  not  his  real  self. 


210  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


THE  POTION  AND  THE  LOVELY  LADY 

The  King's  Potion  too  is  well  stated.  Buttercup  is 
incorruptible,  she  always  guides  aright,  but  after  the  child 
has  partaken  of  the  brew  she  is  helpless.  Only  Love  can 
devise  a  remedy,  and  she  finds  it  from  the  King  alone. 

"There  is  nothing  to  fear. 
Our  King  is  greater  than  even  black  brew." 

This  thought  needs  no  enlargement.    The  Potion  completes 
the  lesson  of  hope. 

One  more  point.  The  Lovely  Lady  is  the  mother  or 
the  story-teller.  She  comes  into  the  Enchanted  Land  with 
Ruth  and  Frank,  and  like  them  she  is  mostly  an  on-looker, 
though  they  may  ask  her 'to  intervene  with  her  mother  love 
when  some  of  the  bottle  people  need  her.  But  note.  She 
is  not  there  to  interfere  with  Frank  and  Ruth.  She  watches 
the  way  life  moves  in  the  Land,  and  is  a  learner  as  well 
as  her  children.  She  helpes  as  a  true  learner  can  help, 
not  as  a  dictator.  We  cannot  dictate  character  to  our  chil- 
dren. They  are  made  by  their  own  choices.  They  may  not 
become  just  what  she  wants  them  to  be,  but  if  they  are 
guided  aright  they  will  become  what  their  own  best  tenden- 
cies and  qualities  make  them.  The  attitude  of  the  true 
mother  is  that  of  a  patient  listener  in  the  kingdom  of  life. 


THE   INFLUENCE   OF  THE  PLAN   IN   WILL- 
TRAINING 

As  to  whether  Mary  Lowe's  stories  have  really  ever 
done  children  good  we  get  the  best  evidence  in  Chapter 
XXV,  where  some  actual  instances  are  given  as  to  what 
they  mean  to  the  imagination,  the  constructive  instinct  and 
the  moral  motive  of  some  of  the  children  with  whom  she 
has  lived. 


MARY  LOWE'S  PHILOSOPHY  211 

To-day  we  are  pretty  well  agreed  that  the  secret  of 
good  living  is  in  the  heart  and  the  will,  that  what  the  heart 
loves  the  will  will  perform,  and  that  the  way  to  help  the 
will  perform  is  to  give  it  actual  exercise  in  willing.  The 
finest  road  to  right  action  is  to  give  a  child  right  actions 
to  perform.  But  clear  back  where  the  child  learns  to  know 
what  the  right  is  and  to  love  it,  much  may  be  done.  The 
trouble  with  most  of  our  moral  education,  even  moral 
education  through  stories,  is  that  the  child  is  perfectly 
passive  and  accepts  what  we  tell  him.  Mary  Lowe  has  met 
this  difficulty  and  conquered  it.  In  her  system  the  children 
are  perpetually  and  enthusiastically  active.  Their  activity 
is  not  merely  in  making  and  moving  the  dolls — a  merely 
muscular  activity,  though  that  is  something.  But  there  is 
activity  of  will.  Each  child's  imagination  actively  identifies 
himself  with  the  hero  of  the  story,  much  more  than  is 
possible  in  a  story  that  is  simply  told.  Here  is  the  actual 
scene  before  him,  here  is  the  actual  situation  in  the  making, 
here  is  he  down  in  the  scene  acting,  suffering,  being  tempted, 
conquering  or  failing,  and  most  of  all — deciding.  The  deci- 
sions of  the  character  are  his  decisions.  The  judgment  that 
is  passed  upon  those  acts  is  one  that  he  passes  himself. 
Mrs.  Lowe  says :  "It  has  always  been  a  notion  of  mine 
to  allow  the  child  to  form  its  own  idea  whether  a  given 
act  is  wrong  or  not.  If  one  of  my  boys  asks  me,  'Is  that 
wrong?'  to  do  as  he  did,  my  answer  would  be,  'Well,  is  it 
wrong — you  know.'  I  would  tell  stories  concerning  the 
nature  of  the  act  and  compel  them  to  decide  for  themselves. 
You  see  that  it  is  natural  that  the  truth  should  seem  clearer 
to  the  mind  that  works  it  out  for  itself." 

It  is  not  necessary  in  this  kind  of  story-telling  to  Uirow 
in  many  moral  observations.  Children  are  as  quick  as 
older  persons  to  grasp  the  allegory,  and  if  it  doesn't  make 
itself  clear  as  a  story  it  isn't  much  of  an  allegory. 


XXI 

SOME    BOTTLE-DOLL   STORIES 

WHEN   RUTH    AND   FRANK   VISITED   THE 
ENCHANTED    LAND 

NOTE:  The  characters  in  this  story  in  the  order  of  their  ap- 
pearance are  as  follows: 

Ruth 

Frank 

Bo-Peep 

Johnny  Green 

Boy  Blue 

Farmer's  Wife 

Witches 

Buttercup 

Fairy  Godmother 

It  is  suggested  that  all  the  characters  upon  the  two  platforms 
be  arranged  in  place  before  beginning  the  story,  and  that  the  chil- 
dren be  scattered  about  the  meadow.  The  Farmer's  Wife  should 
be  at  the  house.  When  Frank  and  Ruth  enter,  they  stop  and  look 
up  at  the  Kingdoms  and  then  are  met  by  Bo-Peep  and  Johnny 
Green.  The  Witches  are  already  stationed  by  the  Brew.  Buttercup 
comes  clown  at  the  moment  indicated  and  returns  to  confer  with  the 
Fairy  Queen.  She  brings  down  the  Potion  in  a  beautiful  cup  or 
vase.  The  mixing  of  the  Potion  is  a  very  interesting  ceremony 
to  the  children  and  they  love  to  repeat  the  verse  that  is  used  at  the 
time  until  they  have  memorized  it. 

"Oh,  Ruth!  is  this  the  Enchanted  Land?" 
"I  am  sure  it  is,  Frank.     Up  there  is  the  Fairy  God- 
mother.    Below  her  is  Old  King  Cole,  and  the  Queen  of 
Hearts,  and  Prince  Charming.     And  oh !  look  at  the  dear 
Tiny  Tots,  and  all  the  people  coming  out  of  the  house! 

212 


SOME  BOTTLE-DOLL  STORIES  213 

I  wonder  if  we  know  any  of  these  other  persons!"  ex- 
claimed Ruth  excitedly. 

"Here  is  Little  Bo-Peep  coming  this  way,  I  think," 
answered  Frank. 

Ruth  waited  for  Bo-Peep  and  Johnny  Green  to  come 
near  her.  Frank  heard  Boy  Blue  call  from  a  distance: 

"Bo-Peep!  Bo-Peep!  Mother  wants  you  to  come 
right  away."  And  Bo-Peep  ran  home  without  saying  a 
word  to  disappointed  Ruth. 

The  Farmer's  Wife  met  her  at  the  door.  You  know  the 
Farmer's  Wife? 

"Three  blind  mice, 

They  all  ran  up  to  the  Farmer's  Wife, 
She  cut  their  tails  off  with   a   carving  knife. 
You  never  did  see  such  a  time  in  your  life, 
As  those   three  blind  mice." 

Well,  she  was  the  mother  of  Little  Boy  Blue  and 
Bo-Peep. 

"Oh,  Mother!  Must  we  work  this  beautiful  day?" 
asked  Bo-Peep. 

"Tut,  tut!  my  child.  Why,  out  on  the  green  hills 
where  the  lambs  frisk  about  among  the  daisies,  and  the  rab- 
bits play  games  all  their  own,  is  it  not  fine  to  be  there?" 
she  asked.  "Go  get  your  sheep  from  the  corral  and  drive 
them  to  the  hills  and  keep  them  there.  Little  Boy  Blue 
must  go  and  keep  the  cows  on  the  stubble  down  back  of  the 
big  barn.  There  are  a  few  sheep  among  them  that  your 
father  will  sell  to-morrow." 

The  children  laughing  gayly  went  on  their  way.  Com- 
ing up  to  Ruth  and  Frank,  who  had  been  getting  acquainted 
with  Johnny  Green,  they  called  cheerily: 

"Come  with  us  to  the  hills  and  gather  daisies,  won't 
you?" 

"No,  no,"  shouted  Johnny.  "We  will  all  go  around 
by  the  brown  lane,  and  see  the  funny  Witches  who  have 


214  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

camped  there.  We  may  see  some  one  drink  of  the  black 
brew — it  will  be  fun." 

Ruth  and  Frank  did  not  like  to  go,  and  they  said  so. 

"Then  you  and  Boy  Blue  come,  Bo-Peep;  you  can 
return  by  the  lower  lane,  and  get  your  sheep  out  in  plenty 
of  time." 

"Well,  it  won't  matter  if  we  are  a  little  late;  Mother 
will  not  care."  So  the  children  hurried  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  wicked  Witches.  When  they  had  come  nearer  to 
the  camp,  the  odor  of  the  brew  filled  the  air  and  made 
them  anxious  to  get  nearer.  Many  persons  were  standing 
about.  A  great  kettle  was  steaming  over  a  slow  fire,  and 
queer  Witches  were  stirring  a  very  black-looking  broth; 
their  grim  faces  were  intent  on  the  children  and  the  mixing 
of  the  brew.  They  mumbled  as  they  worked. 

Bo-Peep  shivered  slightly,  and  stood  nearer  Johnny. 
Boy  Blue  was  so  young  and  small  that  he  did  not  know 
the  danger  as  the  others  did. 

"My,  but  it  does  smell  nice !"  he  murmured  wistfully. 

Will  no  one  save  the  children?  Must  they  drink  the 
evil  brew,  and  be  poisoned? 

Bo-Peep  began  to  notice  that  the  old  Witches  did  not 
look  so  horrible  as  they  did  at  first, — and  the  brew  did 
smell  nice — it  wasn't  so  very  black,  either.  Just  then  she 
heard  the  Witches  sing: 

"Come,  little  children,  dear  little  children — 
Drink  of  the  brew. 
Everyone  uses  it, 
No  one  refuses  it, 
Why  should  you?" 

"Could  we  not  take  a  tinty,  weenty  bit?"  coaxed  Boy 
Blue. 

Swiftly  down  the  lane  came  Buttercup.  The  King  had 
given  the  children  into  her  charge.  Breathlessly  she  called 
down  to  them: 


SOME  BOTTLE-DOLL  STORIES  215 

"Come,  dearest,  your  mother  is  waiting  for  you. 
Beware  of  the  Witches— don't  drink  of  the  brew. 
The  birds  and  the  flowers,  the  grass  and  the  wood, 
All  filled  with  joy  for  love  of  the  good, 
Are  calling  for  you." 

The  children  thought  it  was  a  great  pity  to  be  disturbed 
just  when  things  seemed  so  happy.  Bo-Peep  turned  to  the 
coming  child,  and  said  angrily : 

"Oh,  Buttercup,  go, 
You  bother  us  so, 
Just  for  this  once, 
Don't  be  such  a  dunce — 
We  will  take  only  a  drop  of  the  brew, 
No  one  will  know  of  our  drinking  but  you." 

Then  the  Witches'  enticing  chant  was  heard  again : 

"Sweet  children,  partake  of  this  liquid  so  rare, 
Your  hearts  will  be  brave,  to  do  and  to  dare ; 
Your  chains  will  be  broken,  your  life  will  be  free. 
Come  drink  to  your  mother,  your  playmate,  and  Me." 

The  children  crept  still  closer  to  the  brew,  and  they 
did  not  heed  the  cry  of  Buttercup  who  kept  pleading: 
"Dear  little  ones,  come!  Think  of  your  homes!"  Her 
words  were  drowned  in  the  louder  chant  of  the  Witches, 
who  sang: 


"The  Brew  is  like  wine — 
Like  good,  sweet  wine, 
Oh,  it  is  fine ! 
Come  taste  it  and  use  it, 
Please  don't  refuse  it! 
There's  nothing  to  harm, 
It  works  like  a  charm. 
Nice  little  children,  drink  of  the  Brew, 
It  makes  all  your  wishes  and  dreams  come  true!' 


216  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

And  the  children  replied: 

"Go  away,  Buttercup, 
We  are  sorry  for  you, 
But   nothing  will  keep  us 
From  drinking  the  Brew." 

Crowding  close  to  the  kettle,  the  children  each  tasted 
the  brew  that  could  bring  nothing  but  evil  to  their  hearts. 
Frank  and  Ruth,  who  had  watched  them  from  the  hillside, 
turned  away  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  for  they  understood. 

At  once  Johnny  looked  about  for  some  mischief  to 
do.  He  spied  Mother  Hubbard's  dog  chasing  a  cat  down 
the  lane. 

'There's  Jack  Spratt's  little  old  cat— I'll  kill  it, -you 
bet."  He  caught  it  as  it  came  around  the  corner. 

"Do  not  hurt  it,"  pleaded  Buttercup.  "Please,  Johnny, 
put  it  down." 

He  would  not  listen.  The  black  brew  was  taking 
effect.  Coming  to  a  well  (represented,  perhaps,  by  a  small 
jar  without  a  top),  he  threw  the  cat  down  into  the  water. 
The  poor  kitty  cried  and  cried,  until  she  was  almost 
exhausted,  before  Jimmy  Stout  came  that  way  after  a  while, 
and  nearly  lost  his  life  getting  it  safely  out  of  the  water. 

Off  in  the  distance  the  children  could  be  heard  singing : 

"Ding-dong  bell !     Pussy's  in  the  well. 
Who  put  her  in?    Little  Johnny  Green. 
Who  took  her  out?     Little  Jimmy  Stout." 

Bo-Peep  hurried  through  the  valley,  and  managed  to 
get  the  sheep  out  on  the  hills  before  her  mother  noticed 
how  long  she  had  been  doing  her  work.  Boy  Blue  finally 
got  his  cows  and  sheep  together,  but  he  felt  so  cross  and 
fretful  that  at  last  he  lay  down  by  a  big  hay-stack,  and  was 
soon  fast  asleep. 

In   the   meantime   Johnny   Green   came   to   the  place 


SOME  BOTTLE-DOLL  STORIES  217 

where  the  daisies  grew.    There  he  found  Bo-Peep  reading 
a  book  full  of  witch  stories. 

"I  believe  I  would  rather  be  bad  than  good,"  she  told 
Johnny  Green.  "I  am  going  to  put  on  a  red  gown  and 
wear  a  funny  tall  cap,  and  be  a  witch,  too.  Then  I  will 
coax  all  the  children  to  drink  of  the  brew  until  every  one 
of  them  has  tasted  of  it.  And  when  they  are  cross,  I  will — 
Well,  maybe  I  won't  kill  them — what  could  we  do  to 
them?" 

"Behead  them!"  answered  Johnny  promptly.  "Then 
they  will  go  around  headless.  I  was  reading  that  wicked 
queens  always  behead  their  unruly  subjects.  I  guess  I'll 
be  a  Witch  King.  Say,  Bo-Peep,  I  threw  Jack  Spratt's  cat 
in  the  well." 

"Oh !  Johnny  Green, — what  will  your  mother  do  to 
you?" 

"Maybe  I  won't  go  back  home  any  more — maybe  I'll 
just  go  away  and  see  things." 

This  was  a  new  thought  to  Bo-Peep. 

"Let  us  both  run  away!"  she  said. 

So  Johnny  and  Bo-Peep  climbed  over  the  daisy-covered 
hills,  and  left  the  sheep  to  stray  where  they  would. 

When  the  sun  had  tucked  all  the  little  birds  and  animals 
into  bed,  and  was  about  to  snuff  out  his  light,  he  noticed 
Johnny  and  Bo-Peep  sitting  on  a  rock,  lonely  and  weary. 
Their  little  faces  were  tear-stained,  and  their  tired  eyes 
turned  to  him  frightened. 

"Don't  go  down,"  they  pleaded.  "We  are  so  afraid 
in  the  dark."  But  the  sun  wouldn't  stay  one  minute  longer, 
for  he  had  not  taken  any  of  the  brew, — he  would  not 
disobey  his  King,  who  had  told  him  to  leave  this  land 
every  evening,  and  come  back  every  morning.  So  the  dark 
came  and  covered  the  children  like  a  veil.  And  one  by. 
one  the  stars  came  out,  and  then  the  moon  sailed  proudly 
in  sight.  They  had  done  no  wrong ;  they  were  not  afraid — 
they  were  shining  patiently  in  their  places. 

As  Johnny  and  Bo-Peep  looked  up  at  the  stars  they 


218  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

thought  of  this,  and  the  stain  of  the  black  brew  seemed  to 
make  their  little  hearts  ache. 

"Let's  go  home  again,  Bo-Peep;  if  my  mother  whips 
me  hard  maybe  the  tears  will  help  wash  away  the  ache  that 
the  brew  makes  in  my  heart." 

"Maybe  it  would,"  answered  Bo-Peep  sorrowfully.  So 
they  trudged  all  the  dreary  way  back  again  over  the  daisy- 
covered  hills  to  their  homes. 

When  Bo-Peep  had  come  to  her  own  door,  she  heard 
her  father  say : 

"Little  Bo-Peep 
Has  lost  her  sheep, 
And  don't  know  where  to  find  them." 

And  from  outside  the  door  Bo-Peep  answered  with 
tears  in  her  voice : 

"Let  them  alone, 
For  they'll  come  home, 
And    bring    their    tails    behind    them." 

You  may  remember  how  once  upon  a  time  Bo-Peep's 
mother,  the  Farmer's  Wife,  cut  off  the  tails  of  some  mice 
with  her  carving  knife.  She  was  a  very  decided  person. 
She  was  frightened  because  Bo-Peep  was  gone  after  dark, 
and  she  was  afraid  that  her  little  girl  had  been  doing  some- 
thing even  worse  than  neglecting  her  work. 

"Did  you  go  down  the  valley  and  drink  of  the  Witch's 
brew?"  she  asked. 

"Yes,  I  did."  You  wouldn't  be  surprised  if  I  told  you 
that  Bo-Peep's  mother  gave  her  a  shaking,  and  after  a 
supper  of  bread  and  milk,  sent  her  right  off  to  bed.  But 
Bo-Peep's  heart  was  nowhere  near  so  troubled  by  the  shak- 
ing as  it  was  when  she  heard  her  mother  downstairs  sobbing, 
"Oh !  where  is  Little  Boy  Blue — not  home  yet ;  something 
has  happened  to  my  little  boy,  I  know." 

Bo-Peep  crept  quietly  out  of  bed,  and  slipped  down 


SOME  BOTTLE-DOLL  STORIES  219 

to  the  barn  to  look  for  him,  for  she  knew  it  was  all  her 
fault  that  he  had  drank  of  the  brew  that  day.  And  she 
thought,  too,  that  perhaps  she  could  find  him.  In  a  little 
while  she  heard  the  cow  bell  dingle-dingle  in  the  corn  field. 
And  she  saw  the  white  sheep  her  father  was  going  to  sell 
bleating  over  in  the  green  meadow.  She  was  going  to  drive 
them  back  where  they  belonged,  when  her  troubled  eyes 
caught  the  shine  of  a  little  horn  down  beside  the  haystack. 
Coming  nearer,  she  found  Boy  Blue  fast  asleep.  Then  she 
sang  merrily : 

"Little  Boy  Blue,  come  blow  your  horn, 
The  sheep's  in  the  meadow,  the  cow's  in  the  corn. 
Is  this  the  way  to  tend  your  sheep, 
Under  the  haystack  fast  asleep?" 

Just  then  Bo-Peep's  mother,  the  Farmer's  Wife,  came 
running  up  to  them.  She  kissed  Boy  Blue,  and  threw  her 
arms  about  both  her  children  and  murmured,  "What  will 
the  Fairy  Godmother  say  to  me  for  not  watching  over  my 
little  ones  ?" 

That  night  as  they  lay  down  to  rest  Bo-Peep  said  sadly, 
"What  can  we  do  to  take  the  ache  out  of  our  hearts,  Boy 
Blue?" 

But  neither  of  them  knew.  Although  they  had  both 
tried,  still  they  felt  the  dark  stain  there. 

But  Buttercup  did  not  forget  the  children.  She  had 
gone  to  the  Fairy  Godmother  and  mournfully  said : 

"Oh!   Fairy  Godmother,  the  wicked  old  Witches 

Have  given  our  children  a  taste  of  the  brew, 
The  cruel  dark  stain  must  ever  remain, 

No  one  can  save  them,  dear  mother,  but  you." 

The  Fairy  Godmother  looked  lovingly  at  Buttercup, 
and  replied  cheerfully: 

"Oh !  Buttercup,  dear,  there  is  nothing  to  fear, 
Our  King  is  far  greater  than  even  black  brew. 


220  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

In  every  dark  hour,  he  gives  us  the  power 
To  wish  for  a  blessing  and  make  it  come  true." 

"Call  good  little  Alice  to  bring  out  the  Chalice." 
Buttercup  flew  to  do  her  bidding.  Then  Alice  of 
Wonderland  brought  the  King's  Chalice,  and  set  it  before 
the  Fairy  Godmother,  who  had  the  magic  power  to  mix 
the  King's  Potion.  As  she  dropped  into  the  golden  vessel 
the  precious  liquid,  she  was  heard  to  say  slowly,  as  she 
mixed  it: 

"Pour  Mercy,  and  Peace,  and  Justice  herein, 
We   add   to    the    Potion   pure   heartfelt    Devotion, 
Now  put  in  the  mixture  much  Sorrow  for  Sin, 
The  Chalice  we  fill  with  Love  and  Good  Will. 
Pour  all  in  the  jar  you  bring, 
Now  dip  in  a  cup  and  each  take  a  sup, 
Then  close  with  the  Seal  of  the  King." 

Then  the  Fairy  Godmother  carefully  gave  the  Chalice 
into  the  hands  of  Buttercup,  and  told  her  quickly  to  give 
it  to  the  children,  who  had  drank  of  the  Brew,  so  that 
the  curse  of  the  Witches  might  be  removed. 

Buttercup  knelt  down  beside  the  little  bed  containing 
the  two  sad,  sleepless  children,  and  said  with  a  bright 
smile : 

"See!  Here  is  the  King's  Potion.  You  may  drink 
of  it,  and  your  hearts  will  be  white  once  more,  and  all 
the  pain  and  worry  will  be  gone." 

So  they  drank  of  the  golden  cup,  and  all  the  pain  was 
taken  out  of  their  hearts. 

"Oh!  Buttercup,  please  go  to  Johnny  Green's  house, 
and  let  him  drink,  too,"  pleaded  Bo-Peep. 

Don't  you  think  that  Johnny  Green  was  glad  to  drink 
of  the  precious  Potion? 

When  the  good  sun  looked  down  on  the  Enchanted 
Land  the  next  morning,  he  saw  three  very  happy  children, 
who  were  very  careful  to  keep  away  from  the  valley  of 
the  Witch's  Brew. 


SOME  BOTTLE-DOLL  STORIES  221 


THE  FOX  AND  THE  FARMER 

NOTE:  Mrs.  Lowe  shows  us  in  this  story  how  one  of  the  Old 
Mother  Goose  rhymes  may  be  made  into  a  prose  story,  and  told 
with  the  aid  of  the  bottle  people. 

This  is  what  the  moon  saw.  It  all  happened  in  the 
Enchanted  Land. 

One  evening  the  Farmer  called  Bo-Peep  from  the 
meadow  where  she  had  been  telling  Boy  Blue  a  story.  They 
promptly  obeyed  his  call,  and  were  both  soon  in  bed  fast 
asleep.  When  the  Farmer  closed  the  shutters  for  the  night 
he  thought  that  the  moon  had  winked  at  him,  but  he  could 
not  be  quite  sure.  Soon  the  whole  house  was  silent,  and 
every  one  slumbered. 

Puck  was  standing  beside  the  tent  of  the  Witches,  and 
the  four  of  them  seemed  to  be  plotting  something.  Finally, 
it  was  agreed  what  the  sport  of  the  night  should  be.  One 
of  the  Witches  was  to  turn  herself  into  a  fox,  and  visit 
the  Farmer's  geese  and  make  trouble. 

(Since  we  are  in  the  Land  of  Make-believe,  a  Witch 
may  look  like  a  fox  if  she  pleases.  But  a  Witch  is  still  a 
Witch,  so  the  children  will  see  her  as  she  is,  but  the  Farmer 
will  be  fooled.) 

So  pretty  soon  the  Witch  came  to  the  edge  of  the 
town.  (She  is  a  fox  now.) 

"The  fox  jumped  up  on  a  clear  bright  night, 
The  stars  were  shining — all  things  right. 
'Ho,  ho!'  said  the  fox.    'It's  a  very  fine  night 
For  me  to  go  through  the  town,  heigho !' " 

Now  I  see  the  fox  creeping,  creeping,  sneaking,  sneak- 
ing over  the  stile,  across  the  meadow,  making  his  way 
to  the  Farmer's  house. 

"The  fox,  when  he  came  to  yonder   stile, 
He  lifted  his   ears,  and  he  listened  a  while. 


222  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

'Ho,  ho!'  said  the  fox.     'It's  but  a  short  mile 
From  this  to  yonder  town,  heigho !' " 

Now  the  Fox- Witch  goes  to  the  children's  play-house. 
He  would  not  dare  do  that  if  Boy  Blue  were  awake.  See, 
he  is  looking  in  the  window,  and  now  he  tries  the  door. 
Ah!  The  Farmer  built  his  house  strong  and  well.  The 
Witch  need  not  try  to  get  in.  I  guess  the  Farmer  knows ! 

Now  the  Fox- Witch  goes  back  of  the  house.  Here 
are  the  geese  all  cuddled  down  to  sleep  on  a  flat  board  next 
to  the  fence.  The  drake  is  roosting  like  a  watchman  on 
the  back  gate,  but  he  is  beginning  to  sleep,  too. 

"The  fox  when  he  came  to  the  farmer's  gate, 
Whom  should  he  see  but  the  farmer's  drake; 
'I   love   you   so   well    for  your   master's   sake, 
And  long  to  be  picking  your  bones,  heigho !' " 

The  drake  did  not  want  his  bones  picked,  so  he  woke 
up  and  tried  to  get  away.  All  the  other  geese  woke  up  and 
hurried  and  scurried,  too,  and  the  fox  after  them,  especially 
after  the  biggest  and  fattest  old  gray  goose. 

"The  gray  goose  ran  right  around  the  haystack. 
'Ho,  ho!'  said  the  fox.     'You  are  very  fat; 
You'll  do  very  well  to  ride  on  my  back, 
From  this  unto  the  town,  heigho !" 

Then  oh,  the  cackling,  the  fussing  and  quacking!  The 
gray  goose  flew  over  the  fence,  and  the  fox  leaped  over 
after  her.  The  gray  goose  ran  around  a  bush,  and  the  fox 
ran  around  the  bush,  too.  The  gray  goose  was  getting 
out  of  breath,  but  the  fox  was  just  as  fresh  as  ever. 

The  Farmer's  Wife,  that  staunch,  brave  woman,  who 
could  calmly  cut  off  the  tails  of  three  blind  mice  if  neces- 
sary, would  never  allow  a  mere  fox  such  liberties.  Boy 
Blue  half  woke  up,  and  wondered  in  a  sleepy  way  if  it 
was  Thanksgiving-time,  and  all  of  the  geese  and  chickens 
were  going  to  lose  their  heads.  He  wasn't  afraid,  for  there 


SOME  BOTTLE-DOLL  STORIES  223 

were  Mother  and  Father  to  look  after  them.  Little  Bo-Peep 
was  so  very  tired  that  she  did  not  wake  up  at  all,  and 
knew  nothing  about  it  until  morning. 

"The  farmer's  wife  she  jumped  out  of  bed, 
And  out  of  the  window   she  popped  her  head. 
'Oh,  husband!     Oh,  husband!    The  geese  are  all  dead, 
For  the  fox  has  been  through  the  town,  heigho!'" 

Then  the  Farmer  quickly  arose,  and  loaded  the  little 
pistol  that  was  always  tucked  over  the  door,  and  went 
quietly  out.  Boy  Blue  drowsily  heard  the  door  crack,  and 
was  just  about  to  drop  into  a  deep  slumber  when — Bang! 

"The  farmer  loaded  his  pistol  with  lead, 
And  shot  the  old  rogue  of  a  fox  in  the  head. 
'Ah,  ha!'  said  the  farmer.     T  think  you're  quite  dead, 
And  on  more  you'll  trouble  the  town,  heigho!'" 

So  the  Farmer  came  back  to  the  house  and  went  to 
bed  again.  But  by  this  time  Boy  Blue  was  wide  awake, 
and  he  tumbled  into  his  clothes,  and  hurried  down  to  ask 
his  father  what  was  the  matter.  The  Farmer  woke  up  long 
enough  to  tell  him  how  he  had  killed  the  old  red  fox,  just 
in  front  of  the  house.  He  did  not  know  that  the  fox  was 
the  wicked  old  Witch,  for  she  could  make  people  see 
things  just  as  she  wanted  them  to.  So  back  went  the 
Farmer  and  his  boy  to  sleep. 

The  next  morning  when  the  Farmer  opened  the  shut- 
ters of  his  house  before  day-break,  he  fancied  that  the 
moon  winked  at  him  again.  She  may  have  done  so,  for  just 
as  soon  as  all  was  quiet  the  Witch  got  up  on  her  feet  and 
ran  straight  back  to  her  tent.  When  the  Farmer  came  out 
in  the  morning  to  pick  up  the  fox's  body,  and  nail  the 
skin  to  his  barn  door,  there  was  no  fox  there.  It  seemed 
to  the  old  Witch  that  it  was  not  a  very  good  joke  after 
all  for  the  Farmer  to  come  put  and  frighten  her  half  to 
death  when  she  was  only  trying  to  have  a  little  fun,  and 
just  to  think  that  not  one  of  the  geese  was  hurt ! 


224  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


SOME   OTHER    STORIES 

As  has  been  suggested,  not  only  may  all  stories  be 
told  with  bottle  dolls,  but  nearly  all  can  be  told  with  refer- 
ence to  Mrs.  Lowe's  allegory.  In  Emilie  Poulsson's  collec- 
tion there  is  a  charming  story  by  Raymond  M.  Alden, 
entitled  "How  the  Chimes  Rang."  It  tells  of  a  magic 
country  in  which  the  church  chimes  would  ring  only  when 
an  unselfish  deed  had  been  done.  It  pictures  the  people 
meeting  in  church,  and  the  rich,  the  wise  and  the  proud 
bringing  their  gifts,  to  all  of  which  the  chimes  were  silent, 
because  theirs  were  the  gifts  of  self-seeking.  But  a  little 
poor  boy  who  had  been  kind  to  his  brother  and  to  a  lost  dog 
sets  the  chimes  ringing  when  he  enters  the  church.  To 
tell  this  story,  "the  church"  and  congregation  are  easily 
arranged,  and  it  remains  only  to  suggest  that  the  selfish 
people  had  drunk  of  the  "brew"  and  to  suit  the  action  to 
the  word  to  make  the  story  wonderfully  effective. 

Sarah  Cory  Rippey  has  written  a  unique  little  story 
book  entitled  "The  Goody-Naughty  Book,"  published  by 
Rand,  McNally  &  Company,  Chicago. 

The  "good  side"  of  the  book  contains  eight  simple 
stories  which  would  be  excellent  to  tell  to  young  children, 
to  give  the  adventures  of  bottle  characters  who  have  never 
forgotten  to  listen  to  the  whispers  of  Buttercup,  while  the 
"naughty  side"  contains  as  many  simple  and  natural  stories 
which  illustrate  the  mischances  of  little  folks  who  have 
so  far  forgot  themselves  as  to  drink  the  Brew. 

A  number  of  story-tellers  have  become  very  enthusiastic 
about  the  possibility  of  telling  some  of  the  Bible  stories 
with  the  character  dolls.  This  graphic  use  of  material 
figures  would  be  suitable,  for  obvious  reasons,  chiefly  with 
the  Old  Testament  stories.  Perhaps  the  best  of  the  Bible 
stories  for  bottle  character  presentation  is  the  favorite 
story  of  David.  The  young  shepherd  is  naturally  placed 
in  the  meadow  of  the  Enchanted  Land,  and  the  home  at- 


SOME  BOTTLE-DOLL  STORIES  225 

mosphere  is  given  by  a  scene  at  the  house.  The  child's  own 
favorite  would  be  the  hero,  Boy  Blue,  who  himself  was  a 
shepherd,  or  Prince  Charming  or  Frank.  We  have  the 
Giant  Goliath  ready  to  hand.  The  king  is  our  Old  King 
Cole,  who  is  kind  until  he  drinks  of  the  brew,  when  his 
madness  overcomes  him.  The  story  of  Joseph,  the  finest 
tale  in  all  literature,  may  be  told  by  these  means,  though  it 
may  be  hard  to  conjure  up  enough  wicked  brothers  without 
manufacturing  some  new  characters  for  the  purpose.  But 
a  special  set  of  bottle  people,  to  play  with  only  on  Sunday, 
embodying  the  leading  types  of  character  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, would  not  be  a  bad  acquisition  to  any  household. 

Perhaps  the  most  practical  way  to  show  how  other 
stories  may  be  told  with  the  bottle  people  is  by  turning  to 
the  stories  which  children  have  actually  told,  given  in  Chap- 
ter XXV;  the  programs  in  Appendix  IX,  also  some  of  the 
other  familiar  and  favorite  children's  stories,  which  may 
easily  be  told  with  the  bottle  people  without  special  direc- 
tions. 


XXII 
HOW   TO   MAKE   THE   BOTTLE   PEOPLE 

It  is  now  time  to  tell  how  bottle  dolls  are  made.  The 
only  materials  required  are  small-sized  empty  bottles 
(round  bottles  should  be  used  if  possible,  as  these  stand 
better),  white  lawn,  a  little  cotton  batting  for  filling,  scraps 
of  paper  and  cloth  for  garments,  and  some  thread,  glue,  pen 
and  ink.  Set  a  bottle  before  you ;  then  take  a  square  piece 
of  cloth  large  enough  to  make  the  head  and  shoulders  the 
size  the  bottle  suggests.  To  make  the  head,  pack  the  cotton 
firmly  in  the  center  of  the  cloth,  and  fold  the  cloth  over 
and  tie  it  in  the  shape  of  a  ball.  Make  the  heads  of  different 
shapes  and  sizes.  Place  cotton  inside  a  small  piece  of 
pink  outing  flannel  to  form  the  chin  and  the  lower  part  of 
the  face.  Over  this  lay  a  three-cornered  piece  of  pink  lawn 
to  give  a  flesh  color  effect.  Bias  the  edge  well  under  the 
chin.  Tie  the  long  ends  behind  the  head,  and  pull  the 
remaining  end  of  the  cloth  over  the  top  of  the  head  and 
sew  tightly.  Now  tie  the  bias  edge  of  the  cloth  firmly  under 
the  chin,  leaving  no  wrinkles. 

Use  paper  to  shape  the  shoulders  and  bust.  Then  tie 
this  head-and-shoulder  piece  on  the  neck  of  the  bottle. 
Paste  over  all  but  the  head  a  strong  piece  of  paper.  Now 
clothe  the  doll  in  paper  or  cloth,  according  to  notion.  Arms 
may  be  empty  if  something  is  placed  about  the  shoulders 
to  give  the  suggestion  that  arms  are  there.  With  a  pen 
sketch  eyes,  nose  and  mouth,  trying  to  make  different  fea- 
tures for  different  characters. 

The  following  colors  are  appropriate  for  characters : 
226 


How  TO  MAKE  THE  BOTTLE  PEOPLE  227 

Fairy  Godmother  and  her  Tiny  Tots,  Mary  Contrary, 

Wee    Willie    Winkie,    Mrs.    Horner    and    Jack 

o'  Hearts,  all  in  white. 
King,  purple  and  black. 
Queen,  red  and  gilt. 
Guards,  black  and  gilt. 
King's  Messenger  and  Jack  Horner,  gray. 
Puck,  and  Little  Miss  Muffet,  pink. 
Alice  of  Wonderland,  blue. 
Buttercup,  yellow. 
Ruth,  light  blue. 

Lovely  Lady,  white  lawn,  with  small  pink  figure. 
Policeman,  dark  blue  or  black. 
Mother  Hubbard,  blue,  with  a  light  calico  apron. 
Polly  Flinders,  dark  blue  dress,  with  long  white  cape. 
Farmer,   Tommy  Snooks  and  Little  Boy  Blue,  dark 

blue  overalls  and  light  shirts. 
Little  Bo-Peep,  black  and  white  check. 
Farmer's  Wife,  brown  and  green. 
Lena,  and  Red  Riding  Hood,  red  and  white. 
Frank,  Jack  the  Giant  Killer,  Tom  Piper,  and  Johnny 

Green,  brown. 

Sister  Marie,  black  and  white. 
Bessie  Brooks,  red  check  dress,  with  white  apron. 
Witches,  green  and  red. 


XXIII 

HOW  TO  MAKE  THE  SCENERY  AND  ARRANGE 
THE  ACCESSORIES 

Mrs.  Lowe  has  made  bottle-doll  play  even  more  fas- 
cinating by  planning  for  accessories  and  scenery.  Mrs. 
Lowe's  boats  were  made  of  tiny  boxes,  also  her  sleighs, 
wagons  and  trains  of  cars.  She  said  it  did  not  detract 
from  their  value  when  wagons  that  were  used  to  bring 
a  load  of  merrymakers  to  grandma's  were  turned  upside 
down  to  serve  as  their  table  to  eat  from.  It  will  add 
much  to  the  interest  of  the  play  if  simple  backgrounds  are 
built  up  out  of  common  nursery  material,  such  as  table 
covers  laid  over  blocks  and  boxes  for  undulating  plains, 
using  boxes  to  represent  houses  and  furniture,  twigs  for 
shrubs  and  trees,  and  having  carts,  cars  and  doll  furniture 
take  their  silent  part  in  building  a  scenic  effect. 

The  house,  which  is  essential  to  bottle  scenery,  may  be 
made  of  a  shoe  box,  somewhat  decorated  with  cut-out  win- 
dows and  doors  or  of  a  toy  house  in  the  child's  own  collec- 
tion. When  the  compiler  of  this  book  was  trying  out  the 
plan  with  some  expert  story-tellers  a  very  elaborate  doll 
house  was  sent  to  them  for  this  purpose.  The  story-tellers 
already  had  a  very  simple  contrivance  which  Mrs.  Lowe 
herself  had  fashioned  out  of  pasteboard.  When  the  chil- 
dren were  asked,  as  they  were  in  several  towns,  which  house 
they  preferred  they  always  asked  for  Mrs.  Lowe's.  They 
seemed  to  want  to  exercise  their  imaginations  on  something 
that  was  not  too  complete  and  ready-made. 

A  novel  book  by  E.  Nesbit,  published  by  George  H. 
228 


How  TO  MAKE  THE  SCENERY  229 

Doran^  Company,  New  York,  entitled  "Wings  and  the 
Child,"  tells  how  to  make  an  elaborate  background  which 
would  be  most  attractive  for  bottle  doll  play  out  of  such 
objects  as  nursery  blocks,  call  bells,  books,  sand,  and  various 
bright-colored  junk  such  as  is  found  in  every  child's  toy 
box  and  every  attic. 

The  pot  for  the  witches'  brew  should  be  a  very  homely 
utensil.  A  small  tin  cup  painted  black  inside  is  excellent, 
because  even  clear  water  will  look  black  inside  it.  The 
Chalice  should  be  a  beautiful  vessel.  A  bright  copper 
match  safe  or  a  small  silver  vase  will  do. 

A  river  may  be  indicated  by  a  bank  made  of  paste- 
board boxes,  laid  zigzag,  over  a  space  in  the  center.  A 
well  may  be  made  by  placing  square  boxes  as  curbing. 
When  figures  must  go  into  the  river  they  are  taken  over 
the  bank.  If  the  object  is  to  be  unseen  in  the  well,  make 
the  curbing  hig"h. 

In  order  to  fit  the  character  dolls  to  every  sort  of  story, 
let  us  give  some  miscellaneous  directions. 

Do  not  keep  too  many  animals  or  articles  on  the  table. 
Have  a  place  provided  to  keep  them.  Use  as  needed. 

Use  twigs  for  trees,  and  place  them  in  spools,  wrapped 
in  green.  They  may  stand  where  you  want  them. 

A  collection  of  toy-animals  should  be  called  for  from 
the  children,  who  will  take  more  interest  if  they  are  a 
part  of  the  little  world. 

The  toys  must  fit  the  dolls  in  size. 

Make  it  a  point  to  have  everything  that  can  be  procured 
to  fit  any  story.  If  a  fire  is  needed  where  it  can  be  seen, 
use  red  and  gilt  paper.  If  a  fence  is  spoken  of,  make  a 
fence  of  toothpicks. 

If  a  figure  needs  disguising  for  a  time,  cut  a  half  circle 
of  cloth,  cut  the  neck  out  of  the  center  of  the  straight  side 
and  pin  on  the  figure;  then  twist  a  bit  of  tissue  paper 
about  the  head  to  form  hat  and  bonnet. 

If  a  babe  is  needed  to  complete  a  family,  take  one 
from  the  Fairy  Godmother.  If  a  ragged  child  is  called 


230  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

for,  do  the  same;  make  two  smaller  circles  for  cloaks,  and 
have  them  ragged,  and  fasten  at  neck  and  waist  line. 

When  soldiers  are  needed,  put  uniforms,  cut  poncho 
style,  over  the  shoulders  of  a  lot  of  the  male  characters. 

When  an  angel  is  needed,  use  Alice  of  Wonderland. 
If  more  than  one,  use  Buttercup,  Puck  or  the  Fairy  God- 
mother. 

When  a  "store"  is  needed,  pin  a  straight  cloth  above 
the  house  and  print  the  name  on  it.  If  store  and  house 
both,  then  have  one  in  stock,  and  be  up  to  date. 

When  a  story  tells  of  the  inside  of  a  house,  place 
toothpicks  to  form  plan  of  the  house,  with  one  or  more 
rooms.  If  a  figure  must  go  upstairs,  lift  it  quickly  and 
place  in  the  next  room.  This  seems  realistic. 

If  school  or  church  are  in  a  story,  place  the  people  in 
rows,  as  in  "meeting,"  and  have  the  actors  quite  visible 
to  the  audience.  Omit  no  detail  that  it  is  possible  to  put 
into  the  action  of  the  story. 

Make  houses  to  represent  a  certain  neighborhood,  then 
name  the  dolls  for  people  living  there.  Tell  of  some  inci- 
dent that  has  happened  there. 


XXIV 
RULES  FOR  MOVING  THE  BOTTLE  PEOPLE 

Learn  the  dolls  by  name. 

When  choosing  a  character  for  a  new  story  tell  the 
name  of  the  doll,  and  speak  of  the  change  something  like 
this :  "In  the  story  I  will  tell  you,  Jack  the  Giant  Killer 
will  take  the  character  of  Tommy."  They  already  love 
Jack  and  are  interested  in  his  success. 

When  introducing  a  character,  place  it  in  the  middle 
of  the  space,  holding  by  thumb  and  finger  at  its  back,  and 
have  it  face  the  audience  whenever  possible. 

Do  not  place  a  thumb  over  its  face  when  holding  it. 
Some  do. 

Do  not  read  a  story  and  use  the  dolls  at  the  same 
time. 

Make  dolls  move  in  the  center  space  whenever  pos- 
sible. Anything  may  be  moved  on  the  table  to  another 
position. 

When  hats  are  adjustable  on  dolls,  remove  them  some- 
times. 

When,  in  being  moved  through  space,  a  doll  knocks 
another  out  of  place,  have  it  excuse  itself. 

When  a  figure  is  to  lift  or  hold  any  article,  hold  the 
object  so  that  it  seems  to  be  held  by  the  doll.  When  any- 
thing is  thrown,  this  must  be  done  the  same  way. 

When  the  Giant  steals  one  of  the  Tiny  Tots,  let  him 
slip  up  and  take  her  under  his  arm  when  Lena  is  not 
looking.  This  is  an  exciting  moment  for  the  children. 
They  love  action  when  nothing  is  being  said. 

You  may  use  a  doll  for  the  liveliest  action  in  a  given 

231 


232  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

story,  and  then  suddenly  say,  "So  he  left  them  all,  and 
never  returned."  And  just  lift  the  little  figure  that  was  a 
moment  ago  full  of  life,  and  set  it  over  on  a  shelf.  No 
one  finds  any  inconsistency  in  the  action,  because  the  doll 
has  simply  left  the  Enchanted  Land  and  gone  back  to  the 
everyday  world. 

When  a  good  description  is  given  in  a  story,  do  not 
leave  any  of  it  out  because  the  doll  cannot  be  made  to  act 
it.  Just  make  a  gesture  with  your  own  hand  and  go  on. 

Never  forget  that  the  story  is  of  more  importance 
than  the  doll. 

If  you  wish  to  tell  a  story  in  which  there  is  practically 
no  action,  or  to  recite  a  poem,  use  two  solid  boxes,  one  flat, 
for  platform,  and  one  high,  for  the  back  of  it;  these  will 
form  a  mimic  stage.  Then  place  three  or  more  figures  on 
it,  as  if  sitting  in  a  half  circle.  Allow  each  one  of  these  in 
turn  to  recite  one  of  the  little  poems,  taking  care  that  each 
"child"  shall  tell  something  suitable  for  her  size  and  sort. 
This  will  prove  interesting,  and  there  is  no  story  that  may 
not  be  told  thus,  if  it  is  not  possible  to  tell  it  with  the  bottle 
dolls  in  action. 

Sometimes  Mrs.  Lowe  lets  little  people  just  talk  to 
each  other,  and  say  the  things  the  children  are  anxious  to 
know.  Let  Little  Boy  Blue  get  lost,  and  tell  how  he  feels, 
and  how  his  mother  worries  over  him,  and  the  sadness 
of  Little  Bo-Peep — and  then  let  them  find  him. 

You  begin  to  see  the  vividness  of  this  kind  of  play. 
What  is  taking  place  mentally  is  very  interesting.  The 
child  is  in  a  society  of  many  imaginary  companions  to 
whom  he  lends  real  attributes  and  powers.  Since  these 
characters  are  constant,  but  their  adventures  vary,  he  can 
and  does  take  these  mimic  friends  with  him  day  after 
day  into  every  story  and  game  he  wishes  to  play. 


XXV 
WHAT   THEY   MEAN   TO   THE   CHILDREN 

When  the  writer  first  learned,  quite  by  accident,  of  this 
unique  system  of  story-telling  through  play,  it  was  through 
a  friend  who  came  to  the  town  where  Mrs.  Lowe  had  lived, 
three  years  after  she  herself  had  removed,  and  found  the 
children  to  whom  Mrs.  Lowe  had  explained  the  bottle 
characters,  after  three  years'  absence,  retelling  them  and 
telling  some  of  their  own. 

This  was  gratifying  to  Mrs.  Lowe,  for  she  had  said, 
"You  see,  I  want  the  children  to  create  a  little  world  of 
their  own.  When  you  have  made  the  plan  their  own,  they 
will  have  a  real  basis  to  their  system.  You  do  not  teach  the 
children ;  they  catch  the  idea  from  you  how  to  teach  them- 
selves. They  will  tell  little  stories,  and  begin  to  put  out 
their  own  ideas,  and  make  characters  to  fit  if  they  are 
encouraged.  All  the  teacher  has  to  do  is  to  fill  the  child 
with  faith  in  itself."  Mrs.  Lowe  favors  having  the  dolls 
made  by  the  children.  They  should  create  their  world  and 
inhabit  it.  The  characters  are  not  to  be  mere  playthings, 
but  an  incentive  to  actual  labor.  They  will  not  work  half 
so  hard  if  they  have  all  they  want  at  the  beginning. 

HOW  TO  MAKE  THE  CHILDREN  ORIGI- 
NATIVE 

While  an  adult  tells  the  story  she  should  be  mindful 
to  ask  her  little  crowd  as  many  questions  as  they  ask  her. 
The  story-telling  should  always  become  a  dialogue.  To 

233 


234  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

encourage  this  even  further,  Mrs.  Lowe  says,  "Whenever  a 
child  asks  me  a  question  I  find  it  always  best  to  let  another 
child  answer  if  possible,  or  to  let  the  questioner  figure  out 
some  sort  of  answer  to  his  own  question,  while  I  suggest 
as  little  as  possible/' 

Mrs.  Lowe  has  had  many  interesting  experiences  in 
getting  the  children  themselves  to  take  part  in  this  kind  of 
play.  She  finds  only  three  rules  necessary: 

1.  When  a  character  has  partaken  of  the  brew,  it 
must  afterward  have  a  chance  to  partake  of  the  King's 
Potion. 

2.  The  child  must  be  allowed  to  use  the  most  active 
personages — the    Fairy    Godmother,    the    Buttercup,    the 
Witch,  and  Puck — at  any  time  in  the  story,  but  must  never 
change  their  characters. 

3.  The  older  Playfellow  may  best  help  the  child  to 
invent  by  selecting  the  characters,  but  not  over  five  at  first, 
and  beginning  the  story.     In  order  that  the  mind  of  the 
child  shall  have  something  to  act  with,  small  boxes  or  mis- 
cellaneous chips  may  be  laid  upon  the  table  to  assist  the 
imagination. 

When  encouraging  a  child  to  tell  stories  who  has  no 
special  story  in  mind  to  tell  it  is  well  to  put  a  number 
of  small  articles  on  the  tables  with  but  a  few  characters. 
He  can  manage  to  find  uses  for  the  things  easier  than  for 
the  folks,  and  the  former  will  suggest  activities  to  him 
for  the  latter. 

Below  is  a  story  given  word  for  word  as  it  was  told 
recently  to  Mrs.  Lowe  by  a  child  hardly  nine  years  old. 


A   STORY   TOLD   BY  A   CHILD   OF   NINE 

"I  placed  three  empty  boxes  on  the  table  beside  Mother 
Hubbard,  Father  Time,  Wee  Willie  Winkie  and  Boy  Blue. 
I  started  the  story: 


WHAT  THEY  MEAN  TO  THE  CHILDREN          235 

"One  day  Wee  Willie  and  Boy  Blue  went  to  visit  their 
grandma—"  Maggie  took  up  the  theme : 

" —  in  the  country.  Willie  is  a  very  little  boy,  so  he  is 
in  bed  yet.  (This  white  box  will  be  the  bed.)  Now 
Grandma  says  to  Boy  Blue,  'Call  Wee  Willie,  and  go  wash 
your  hands  and  face,  for  breakfast  is  ready.'  (I  will  use 
this  brown  box  for  a  table.)  'Come  on,  Wee  Willie,  you 
lazy  boy.  Grandma  won't  care  if  you  eat  with  your  night- 
gown on,  for  she  is  in  a  hurry  to  attend  to  the  milk/ 
'Stand  around  this  table.  Here  is  Ruth — she  is  me — now 
she  is  knocking  at  the  door,'  she  is  a  lady,  you  know. 

'  'Come  in,'  says  Grandma.  'You  are  quite  early  this 
morning,  dear,  how  is  your  mamma?' 

'  'She  is  very  well,  but  she  is  having  quite  a  time  with 
the  baby,  he  is  cutting  his  teeth  now,  and  is  dreadful  cross.' 

"  That  is  too  bad — have  a  cooky,  Miss  Ruth — (Play 
this  was  a  cooky) — that  the  baby  has  the  measles,  and 
the  whooping  cough,  and  is  all  broke  out  with  the  hives, 
she  can't  make  any  pies  to-day.'  Now  Boy  Blue  has 
eaten  up  all  of  the  cookies,  and  Wee  Willie  has  got  milk 
all  over  his  nightgown,  but  Grandma  does  not  care  for 
that,  for  she  knows  that  the  children  haven't  had  a  chance 
to  drink  any  brew  this  morning,  and  you  know  that  a  child 
has  got  to  drink  brew  before  he  can  be  bad  on  purpose. 

"So  now  they  all  go  out  to  play.  First  they  play 
'Puss  in  the  Corner.'  Wee  Willie  will  stand  here,  Boy  Blue 
will  stand  in  this  corner,  and  these  two  boxes  will  be  two 
more  children.  Now  Ruth  will  be  Pussy — Ruth  is  me. 
Tussy  Wants  a  Corner/  (This  is  played  until  all  change 
corners.) 

"Now  they  go  to  the  barn  and  swing.  This  spool  will 
do  for  the  barn.  Now  let  Wee  Willie  swing  first,  he  is 
the  littlest.  ( She  fancies  the  swing,  and  they  are  all  swayed 
back  and  forth  for  a  while.) 

"  'Oh,  there  is  the  horse  all  hitched  up,  we  will  go 
riding/  That's  what  Boy  Blue  says.  But  Ruth  says,  'Won't 
your  Grandpa  be  mad?'  But  anyway  they  all  climbed  in 


236  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

this  big  box— play  it  was  a  new  buggy— and  then  they  go 
down  this  street  and  this  one — and  then  on  into  the  world 
of  Make-believe,  and  on  and  on — but  we  do  not  see  any 
Ogres  or  Goblins,  but  we  hurry  back,  and  the  horse  goes 
faster  and  faster  until  he  gets  all  tired  out,  and  then  we 
all  go  home.  They  put  the  horse  in  the  barn — play  this  stick 
was  a  horse — and  we  give  him  corn.  Now  they  hear 
Grandpa  calling  awful  cross,  for  he  has  found  out  they  had 
the  horse  out,  so  now  they — Oh,  Mrs.  Lowe,  I  forgot  the 
brew."  "No  matter,  just  finish  anyway." 

"Well,  they  go  to  the  house,  and  Grandpa  is  angry 
and  so  is  Grandma.  'Ruth,  you  go  straight  home,'  she 
says,  'and  these  children  must  play  on  the  back  porch 
the  rest  of  the  day.  That's  all,  for  I  can't  give  Ruth  any 
potion,  because  she  didn't  take  any  brew.'  Then  one  of 
the  boys,  one  with  freckles,  snorted,  'Well  you  had  better 
give  her  a  sip  of  the  potion  anyway,  for  she  must  have 
sneaked  a  little  of  the  brew  somewhere,  for  she  knows  she 
did  wrong,  if  she's  got  any  sense.'  ") 

In  actual  use  the  told  story  will  differ  from  these 
written  ones  chiefly  in  this,  that  when  a  story  is  told  there 
is  much  more  dialogue,  not  only  between  the  characters 
but  between  the  story-teller  and  the  children.  The  story- 
teller should  accept  just  as  many  suggestions  from  the 
children  as  possible  regarding  word  and  action,  so  long  as 
they  do  not  alter  the  trend  of  her  story. 

We  certainly  can  do  much  for  a  child's  development 
if  we  help  him  become  a  creative  story-teller.  The  char- 
acter dolls  give  a  child  a  good  chance  to  bring  in  other 
objects  so  that  it  seems  to  become  easier  for  him  to  form 
a  plot  of  a  story,  and  the  telling  will  not  only  discipline 
the  child  himself,  but  will  give  the  listener  a  glimpse  of 
the  child's  tendencies  that  might  otherwise  remain  a  mys- 
tery. 


WHAT  THEY  MEAN  TO  THE  CHILDREN  237 


A  STORY  TOLD  BY  A  SEVEN  YEAR  OLD 

There  is  a  simple  little  story  told  by  Genevieve,  seven 
years  old.  It  brings  out  a  beautiful  lesson  of  consideration 
and  helpfulness  with  a  slight  sense  of  humor. 

Characters : 


Farmer's  Wife. 
Boy  Blue. 
Tiny  Tots. 
Bo- Peep. 
Ruth. 


Articles  used: 

Stove,  a  square  black  box. 

Table,  a  pasteboard  box,  with  sides  and  ends  cut  out. 

Couch,  side  of  a  long  box  cut  out,  and  ends  slanted, 

resting  upon  an  inverted  lid. 
Cupboard,    a    box    with    pasteboard    shelves    pressed 

tightly  into  this. 
Cradle,  small  box,  with  rockers  cut  in  half  circles  and 

placed  in  a  slit  at  each  end  of  the  bottom. 
Stand,  small  box. 

"Dear  me!"  says  the  Farmer's  Wife.  "I  have  such  a 
dreadful  headache — I  must  go  and  lie  down  a  while."  So 
she  will  lie  on  this  couch.  Bo-Peep  must  get  dinner  now, 
for  her  mamma  is  ill. 

"Will  you  have  some  tea,  Mamma?"  said  Bo-Peep. 
No,  Boy  Blue  says  that,  for  little  boys  always  worry  when 
their  mamma  is  sick. 

"Yes,  I  will  take  some  tea,  I  think." 

So  Bo-Peep  put  this  dish  on  the  stove  (play  it  was  a 
tea-pot)  and  the  tea  was  soon  done.  Then  she  took  it  to 
her  mamma,  and  placed  it  on  the  stand  beside  her.  Now 


238  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Bo-Peep  goes  and  puts  the  baby  to  sleep,  so  Mamma  will 
not  be  disturbed.     (Sings) 

"By-O  baby  bunting,   Daddy's  gone   a-hunting, 
To  get  a  little  rabbit  skin, 
To  wrap  the  baby  bunting  in." 

"Now  I  will  get  dinner  and  clean  up  the  house." 

This  is  meat  that  Bo-Peep  is  putting  on  to  fry.  Now 
she  will  set  the  table.  She  tells  Boy  Blue  to  get  the  kindling, 
but  he  won't,  for  boys  never  do  mind  when  their  mamma 
is  sick.  Bo-Peep  wants  to  whip  him,  but  he  hollers  so  loud 
when  he  is  whipped  that  the  whole  neighborhood  would 
hear  him.  So  she  won't.  Here  is  a  table  cloth.  She  will 
spread  it  on  the  table,  and  here  are  the  dishes.  My,  what 
a  sweet  cupboard !  I  wish  it  was  mine.  Now  she  has  the 
table  set.  Oh,  I  forgot  Ruth !  Here  she  comes. 

"Oh,  I  am  so  glad  you  came,  Ruth — you  are  just  in 
time  for  dinner."  So  they  all  sit  around  the  table  (play 
they  are  sitting),  and  Bo-Peep  passes  the  bread.  And  Boy 
Blue  says,  "Oh,  give  me  some  pie!"  for  boys  are  so  rude. 
Only  Bo-Peep  will  not  give  him  any  until  he  eats  some 
bread.  Now  the  baby  is  wide  awake  and  Bo-Peep  will 
rock  him  again.  If  Bo-Peep  didn't  have  to  drink  the  Brew 
before  she  could  whip  Boy  Blue,  I  would  have  her  do  it, 
for  she  feels  just  like  it.  (Sings  to  the  baby  and  rocks 
the  cradle.) 

"Yes,  Boy  Blue,  you  can  have  pie  if  you  want  it.  Eat 
it  all,  no  one  cares.  Pass  Ruth  a  piece,  won't  you?"  That 
is  what  Bo-Peep  said. 

"Now  there  is  the  school  bell,  and  you  will  be  late. 
I  am  not  going,  for  Mamma  will  need  me." 

So  Boy  Blue  and  Ruth  went  to  school,  this  way,  and 
Bo-Peep  said  : 

"Mamma,  won't  you  have  some  more  tea,  and  some 
toast?" 

The  mamma  wanted  some  more,  so  Bo-Peep  put  this 


WHAT  THEY  MEAN  TO  THE  CHILDREN  239 

dish  on.  And,  Oh  yes, — she  will  fry  some  meat  for  Mrs. 
Farmer.  Now  it  is  done,  and  she  spreads  some  butter 
on  it,  and  it  looks  so  good  that  she  wants  it  herself — well, 
play  she  was  cooking  some  of  it  for  herself,  and  the  tea 
is  for  her  mamma.  Now  she  sets  it  on  the  stand,  and  goes 
over  here  and  eats  her  dinner,  and  it  is  fine.  Then  Mrs. 
Farmer  got  well,  and  Bo-Peep  ran  hard,  and  got  to  school 
before  the  last  bell  rang.  That  is  all. 


SOME   OF   MARY   LOWE'S   EXPERIENCES 

Here  are  some  interesting  incidents  of  the  actual  use 
of  the  bottle  characters. 

These  stories  powerfully  stimulate  the  imagination : 

Once  Mrs.  Lowe's  play  club  had  a  funeral.  They  had 
a  hearse,  a  coffin,  a  preacher  to  conduct  the  service,  a  grave 
under  the  trees  and  a  retinue  of  small  people  in  attendance. 
The  children  shed  real  tears,  and  a  boy  who  saw  the 
burial  and  did  not  belong  to -the  club  came  next  day  and 
shyly  put  some  flowers  on  the  grave ! 

Another  time  she  turned  a  lovely  night  into  a  stormy 
one  by  turning  off  all  the  lights  but  a  small  candle  in  a 
doll  house,  and  flashing  the  electric  lights  for  lightning, 
while  they  pulled  a  strong  box  in  the  shape  of  a  canoe 
filled  with  Indians  toward  a  draw-bridge  let  down.  ''Upon 
that  occasion  nothing  could  be  heard  but  the  excited  breath- 
ing of  the  club." 

One  boy  to  whom  Mrs.  Lowe  told  stories,  sometimes 
with  the  dolls,  sometimes  with  pencil  pictures,  up  to  the 
time  she  began  was  below  the  average  in  English  and  draw- 
ing. Within  a  month  he  always  had  100  per  cent  in  both. 

The  opportunities  for  friendly  co-operation  in  bottle- 
doll  play  are  obvious.  A  group  of  children  may  volunteer 
to  make  a  certain  number  of  character  dolls  apiece  till  the 
set  is  completed,  but  a  lively  lot  will  usually  not  be  content 
to  own  a  set  conjointly,  and  soon  each  child  will  determine 


240  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

to  have  a  complete  set  of  his  own.    The  educative  possibili- 
ties of  constructing  such  a  variety  of  characters  are  almost 

limitless. 

Sometimes  it  is  possible  by  sharing  in  a  child  s  story- 
telling to  show  him  a  side  of  the  subject  which  otherwise  he 
would  have  missed  seeing. 

Harry  Hall  was  a  very  bright  child,  six  years  old,  un- 
usually affectionate  and  sensitive.  But  he  had  a  tendency  to 
crush  everything  that  opposed  him,  no  matter  what  the  cost. 

Having  no  character  dolls,  he  and  Mary  Lowe  piled 
a  white  cloth  on  a  couch  in  such  a  manner  that  hills  and 
mountains  and  valleys  were  formed.  Harry  began  his  story 
first,  tracing  with  his  pudgy  little  ringers  the  movements  of 
his  imaginary  persons. 


HARRY'S    STORY 

"In  this  valley  beside  this  big  river  is  a  band  of  fierce 
wild  Indians.  They  have  sharp  tomahawks,  and  they  are 
going  to  kill  animals  now.  They  will  march  down  this 
valley,  up  over  this  hill,  and  around  this  cliff  on  toward  the 
big  mountain  here  in  the  center. 

"Up  here  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain,  high  up, 
is  a  cave  (making  a  dent  in  the  cloth)  and  in  it  a  little  boy 
is  hiding.  He  hears  the  Indians  coming,  and  he  thinks  it  is 
white  men,  so  he  comes  down  this  way.  Then  he  hears  a 
cow  bell  dingle,  and  he  tries  to  find  the  cow.  (Lions  don't 
have  bells,  you  know,  so  he  knows  it  is  a  cow.)  Then  pretty 
soon  the  whole  crowd  of  Indians  war-whooped — every  one 
of  them  at  once — like  this  (giving  a  fair  imitation).  Then 
the  boy  runs  and  runs,  and  falls  down,  and  gets  up,  and 
runs  faster,  until  he  gets  to  the  cave.  Now  he  digs  in,  and 
hides  away  back. 

"The  Indians  come  this  way,  over  this  little  hill,  down 
this  valley,  up  this  side  of  the  mountain,  and  now  they  are 
on  the  very  top,  where  they  camp. 


WHAT  THEY  MEAN  TO  THE  CHILDREN  241 

\  • 

"The  boy  heard  them,  and  was  afraid.  But  the  Indians 
did  not  know  he  was  there.  Then  when  the  meat  began  to 
cook,  and  the  fire  burned  high,  one  Indian  went  to  sleep, 
then  another  Indian  went  to  sleep,  then  all  of  the  Indians 
went  to  sleep, — all  but  one ;  he  didn't.  He  ate  all  the  meat 
up,  and  waked  the  other  Indians  and  whooped : 

'  'I  smell  the  blood  of  an  Englishman !  I  smell  the 
blood  of  an  Englishman !' 

'Then  all  the  Indians  whooped,  'I  smell  the  blood  of  an 
Englishman  F  ' 

(At  this  exciting  juncture  Harry  stopped  and  said,  "I 
guess  I'll  let  them  get  the  boy.  No,  I  won't.") 

Then  he  continued,  'The  boy  came  out  of  the  cave,  and 
ran  swift  as  a  deer  down  the  side  of  the  mountain  until  he 
got  to  this  river,  and  got  in  a  boat,  and  went  off.  The  In- 
dians saw  him,  and  ran,  too,  but  when  they  got  half  way 
down,  an  earthquake  caved  the  mountain  in,  and  swallowed 
them  all  i<p.  (And  he  flattened  the  center  of  the  cloth  to 
suit.)  That  is  all." 

It  was  Mrs.  Lowe's  turn. 


MARY    LOWE'S    STORY 

So  Mary  Lowe  continued : 

"When  the  boy  got  home  his  father  said,  'I  am  glad  to 
see  you  safe  home,  my  boy,  for  your  mother  was  worried 
about  you.' 

"Under  these  high  cliffs  there  are  caves,  and  in  them 
live  the  wives  and  children  of  the  Indians  who  are  lying 
dead  under  the  mountain.  A  little  Indian  boy  is  standing  on 
the  very  top  of  this  cliff,  looking  over  the  hills  and  far  away 
over  the  low  valleys.  His  mother  calls  from  the  cave : 

"  'Do  you  see  them  coming  ?  The  fire  is  blazing  high, 
and  we  must  have  the  game  to  cook  soon,  or  we  will  all  be 
starved.' 

"  'He  does  not  come,'  answered  the  boy  simply.     He 


242  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

had  stood  for  hours  and  hours,  waiting  for  the  father  who 
would  never  come.  The  heart  of  the  little  Indian  boy  was 
brave,  so  he  didn't  complain,  though  he  was  cold  and  hungry. 

"All  along  the  side  of  this  cliff  are  boys  waiting  for 
their  Indian  fathers  to  come  home.  But  how  could  they 
come  when  they  are  lying  cold  and  dead  under  the  big  moun- 
tain? 

"  'My  father  is  brave !'  called  one  of  the  boys.  'He  has 
killed  big  lions— he  will  bring  us  game  to  eat,  and  we  will 
divide  with  you.' 

"But  all  of  the  Indian  boys  within  hearing  shouted  to 
him: 

"  'We  do  not  want  the  game  that  your  father  will  bring, 
for  we  have  fathers  over  the  mountain  who  are  greater 
chiefs  than  your  father,  and  when  they  come  we  will  have  a 
feast.' 

"So  the  day  passed,  and  when  the  evening  came  the 
mothers  and  the  boys  marched  down  the  long  valley,  over 
this  little  hill,  down  this  narrow  valley,  and  stood  at  last 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  that  used  to  guard  the  hills 
year  after  year.  The  fire  burned  high  and  hot  in  the  caves, 
and  the  big  kettles  of  water  boiled,  waiting  for  the  game 
that  was  never  to  be  cooked,  and  the  grim  faced  woman 
and  amazed  boys  stood  hungry  and  cold  beside  the  ruined 
mountain,  wondering  where  the  great  chiefs  were  who  had 
gone  from  home  so  gaily  that  morning,  looking  so  strong 
and  alive. 

"Well,  we  know,  you  and  I,  that  they  were  lying  cold 
and  dead,  crushed  under  the  mountain,  and  they  will  never 
come  home  any  more." 

Mrs.  Lowe  says  that  this  sort  of  story  can  always  be 
depended  upon  to  modify  the  savagery  of  the  boy's  next 
story.  This  boy  got  the  idea  that  besides  himself  there  were 
others  in  the  world  who  were  worth  while. 


WHAT  THEY  MEAN  TO  THE  CHILDREN  243 


SOME   MORAL   RESULTS   FROM   BOTTLE- 
DOLL    STORY-TELLING 

You  can  see  at  once  to  how  many  fine  things  bottle- 
doll  play  relates  itself.  It  helps  memory,  as  children  retell 
stories  they  have  heard,  whether  they  have  seen  them  told 
with  bottle  dolls  or  not,  for  the  writer  has  seen  children, 
who  have  had  the  doll  system  explained  to  them  within 
the  hour,  immediately  come  forward  and  select  doll-charac- 
ters and  proceed  to  tell  and  enact  entirely  fresh  stories. 
This  develops  freedom  of  expression.  It  brings  out  re- 
sourcefulness, as  the  children  make  new  character  dolls, 
invent  backgrounds  and  compose  new  situations  and  stories. 
These  involve  a  variety  of  handicraft.  It  gives  early  exer- 
cise in  character  analysis,  as  individual  dolls  are  selected 
to  play  new  and  appropriate  parts.  The  moral  value  is 
greatest  of  all,  for  Mrs.  Lowe  has  slyly  slipped  into  her  alle- 
gory that  immemorial  contest  between  "Mother  Love"  and 
the  witches'  "brew,"  which  is  the  very  essence  of  moral  liv- 
ing, and  thus  has  given  moral  meaning  to  every  bottle-doll 
story. 

Evidences  of  alterations  in  ideals  and  conduct  among 
children  have  not  been  wanting  in  Mrs.  Lowe's  own  experi- 
ence. 

One  boy,  a  street  boy,  who  was  very  rude  to  his  mother, 
never  having  a  good  word  for  her,  came  to  Mrs.  Lowe's 
house  one  morning  after  four  evenings  of  story-telling,  and 
said,  "I  got  a  big  walloping  this  morning,  but  I  just  gritted 
my  teeth,  and  thought  if  the  old  girl  could  lick  the  stuffin' 
out  of  me,  she  had  a  right  to  do  it.  'Cause  if  she  is  all  the 
Lovely  Lady  I  can  have,  I  am  going  to  stick  to  liking  her.  A 
boy  is  mighty  mean,  anyway — I  don't  blame  her  for  any- 
thing she  does  to  me."  And  he  was  in  earnest.  He  grows 
better  every  day. 

Lucy  had  been  in  the  habit  of  running  away  and  play- 
ing with  the  colored  children  on  the  next  corner.  Her 


244  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

mother  had  repeatedly  told  her  not  to  do  so.  (She  is  six.) 
Suddenly,  she  stopped  going.  Later  she  confided  to  Mrs. 
Lowe,  "I  do  not  go  to  Crawford's  any  more,  because  if  I 
did,  I  would  have  to  drink  the  brew,  and  if  we  drink  of  the 
witch's  brew  we  cannot  be  happy,  you  know." 

Jennie  asked  why  the  invisible  King  didn't  have  some 
love  mixed  in  the  brew  when  the  witches  weren't  looking, 
so  that  it  would  not  be  all  bad.  Helen,  ten  years  old,  an- 
swered, "If  you  want  love,  why  not  go  to  the  Fairy  God- 
mother? She  is  always  near.  The  good  and  bad  get  all 
mixed  up  in  the  heart  enough  now  without  the  Invisible 
King  bothering  to  make  it  worse." 

Another  little  girl  said,  "I  thought  at  first  when  the 
stories  were  new  to  me  that  my  mamma  drank  of  the  brew 
when  she  switched  me,  and  now  I  see  it  is  because  she  is 
anxious  I  shall  not  be  burned  by  the  brew  that  she  punishes 
me.  If  she  didn't  love  me  some,  she  would  not  care." 

A  little  girl  of  six  said,  "My  mamma  called  me  to  come 
home,  and  I  was  not  going  to  listen.  And  then  I  thought 
'What  would  Buttercup  say !'  So  I  ran  home,  for  I  have  a 
dear  little  buttercup  in  my  heart." 

Buster,  a  bright  boy  of  seven,  asked,  "How  do  I  know 
that  I  have  a  buttercup  like  that  in  my  heart?"  Helen,  ten, 
answered,  "Why  make  believe  that  you  have."  "Well,  what 
if  the  make-believe  buttercup  tells  me  to  do  the  wrong 
thing?"  "She  won't  tell  you  wrong.  You  will  know  by 
what  she  says  for  you  to  do  whether  she  is  a  witch  or  a 
buttercup." 


APPENDIXES 


A   LIST   OF   STORIES   THAT   CHILDREN   LIKE 

Selected  by  the  Best  Story-Tellers 

To  ACCOMPANY  CHAPTER  III 

Richard  T.  Wyche,  founder  and  president  of  the  National  Story- 
Tellers'  League : 

Fairy  Stories 

Red  Riding  Hood 
The  Three  Bears 
Beauty  and  the  Beast 
Sleeping  Beauty 

A  Boy's  Visit  to  Santa  Claus,  by  R.  T.  Wyche — Newson  &  Co., 
New  York 

Myths 

Persephone Old  Greek  sources 

Nimmy  Nat  Old     English    Fairy    Stories    by 

Jacobs 

Folk  Tales  and  Legends 

Uncle  Remus  Joel  Chandler  Harris 

Hiawatha Longfellow 

Hero    Tales 

Beowulf    J.  L.  Hall 

King  Arthur    Tennyson  or  Malory 

Ulysses    Bryant's      Odyssey — Old      Greek 

Stories — Andrew  Lang 

Siegfried  Jas.  Baldwin— E  1  d  e  r  Ed  da- 
Younger  Edda — Madam  Rogo- 
zene's  "Beowulf  and  Siegfried" 

Stones  of  Real  Life 

Stories  of  Washington "Story    Life    of    Washington"— 

Daniel  Boone,  David  Crockett,  early  pioneers. 

245 


246  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Miss  Carolyn  Sherwin  Bailey,  author  of  "For  the  Story-Teller," 
"For  the  Story- Hour,"  etc.: 

Stories  with  a  Sense  Appeal 

The  Three    Bears Folk  Tales 

The  Little  Red  Hen Scudder's  versions   are  well  told 

Little  Half  Chick Sara  Cone  Bryant's  version 

Fairy  Stories 

Cinderella    Any  good  version 

The  Ugly  Duckling Hans  Christian  Andersen 

The  Legend  of  Claus Eugene  Field 

Myths 

Persephone    Hawthorne's  version 

The  Adventures  of  Theseus. ..  Greek  Myths 

The  Golden  Touch  Myths  Every  Child  Should  Know 

Folk  Tales  and  Legends 

The  Gingerbread  Boy For  the  Children's  Hour 

Bre'r  Rabbit  and  the  Tar  Baby.  Joel  Chandler  Harris 
How  the  Camel  Got  His  Hump.Rudyard   Kipling— "Just   So   Sto- 
ries" 

Hero  Tales 

The  Little  Hero  of  Harlem.... In  the  Child's  World 
How  Cedric  Became  a  Knight. .  Elizabeth  Harrison 
The   Story  of   David   and   Go- 
liath     The  Bible 

Stories  of  Real  Life 

A  Dog  of   Flanders Ouida 

The  Little  Gray  Pony Maud  Lindsey  "Mother   Stories" 

Grandfather's  Penny    For  the  Children's  Hour 

The  Playground  and  Recreation  Association  of  America: 

Fifty  Stories  for  the  Playground 

Aladdin    and    the     Wonderful  Diamonds  and  Toads 

Lamp  East  of  the  Sun  and  West  of 
The     Apple     of     Contentment        the  Moon   (Dasent) 

(Pyle)  The  Elephant's  Child  (Kipling) 

The   Brahmin,   the   Jackal   and  The  Fisherman  and  His  Wife 

the  Tiger  (Tales  of  the  Pun-  The  Forty  Thieves 

jab)  The  Golden  Goose 

The   Bremen   Town    Musicians  Goody  Two  Shoes 

(Grimm)  Hansel  and  Gretel 

The  Cat  that  Walked  by  Him-  The    History    of    Whittington 

self  (Kipling)  and  His  Cat 

Cinderella  Jack  and  the  Bean  Stalk 


APPENDIX 


247 


Fifty  Stories  for  the  Playground — Continued 


Jack  the  Giant-Killer 
John  Gilpin's  Ride  (Cowper) 
The  King  Who  Was  a  Gentle- 
man (MacManus) 
The    Little   Red   Hen   and   the 

Fox 

Little  Red  Riding  Hood 
A   Midsummer   Night's   Dream 

(Shakespeare) 

Mowgli's  Brothers    (Kipling) 
The  Nose  Tree   (Grimm) 
Old  Man  Kangaroo  (Kipling) 
Old     Pipes     and     the     Dryad 

(Stockton) 

The  Pancake  (Dasent) 
The    Pied    Piper    of     Hamelin 

(Browning) 
The  Princess  Who  Would  Not 

Be    Silent    (Asbjornsen) 
The  Punishment  of  the  Stingy 

(Grinnell) 
Pu&s-in-Boots 
Raggylug   (Seton) 
Rumpelstilzkin    (Grimm) 
The    Shooting    Match    at    Not- 
tingham Town    (Pyle) 


Sindbad  the  Sailor 
Sleeping  Beauty  in  the  Wood 
Snow-White  and  Rose-Red 
The  Steadfast  Tin  Soldier  (An- 
dersen) 

The  Story  of  the  Three  Bears 
The  Story  of  the  Three  Little 

Pigs 

The  Swineherd   (Andersen) 
The     Three      Golden     Apples 

(Hawthorne) 
Thumbelisa   (Andersen) 
The     Thundermaker     and     the 
Showmaker    (Grinnell)     (In- 
dian) 

The  Twelve  Dancing  Princesses 
(Grimm) 

Party     (Eastman) 


Eagle     (Eastman) 


The     War 

(Indian) 
Waukewa's 

(Indian) 
Why  the  Sea  Is  Salt  (Dasent) 
The  Wild  Swans  (Dasent) 
The  Wolf  and  the  Seven  Little 

Goats  (Grimm) 


Mrs.  Dorothy  Canfield  Fisher,  author  of  "A  Montessori  Mother" 
and  "Mothers  and  Children": 

Fairy  Stories 

The  Shoemaker  and  the  Three 
Little  Elves   Grimm's  Fairy  Tales 

Myths 
Thor  and  Thunder Scandinavian  Mythology 

Folk   Tales  and  Legends 

Mowgli    ." Jungle  Book — Kipling 

The  Cat  that  Walked  by  Itself  Just  So  Stories— Kipling 

Hero  Tales 

Story  of  Joseph  and  His  Breth- 
ren     The  Bible 

Story  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion 

Blandel    English  History 

David   and  Goliath , .  The  Bible 


248  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Stephani  Schutze,  professional  story-teller: 

Why  Tony  Bear  Went  to  Bed. .  Sykes,  Tiny  Hare  and  His  Friends 

(Little  Brown  &  Co.) 

The  Tale  Tiny  Hare  Told Schutze,    'The    Continent,"    Apr. 

20,  1911 

The  Elephant's  Child Kipling,  Just  So  Stories 

The  Cat  that  Walked Kipling,  Just  So  Stories 

Mowgli's  Brothers  (adapted) . . . .  Kipling,  First  Jungle  Book 

Raggylug    *  Seton,     Wild    Animals     I     Have 

Known 

The  Snow  Queen    (adapted) Andersen 

fPyle,   Where  the   North  Wind 
Thor     and     the     Frost     Giants!      Blows 

(adapted)     1  Wilmot,  Norse  Heroes 

[  Buxton 

The  Fisherman  and  His  Wife.. Lang 
The  Shepherd  Boy  Who  Became 

King   (adapted)    Baldwin,    Old    Stories    from    the 

East 
Siegfried's  First  Journey  (adapt- 1 

ed)    I  Baldwin,    The    Story   of    Sieg- 

Siegfried  and  the  Dragon  (adapt-  f     fried 

ed)    J 

The  Call  of  the  Wild  (adapted) .  London 

The  White  Seal  (adapted), Kipling,  First  Jungle  Book 

M.  D.  Crackel,  secretary  of  the  West  Side  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio: 

The  Dog  of  Flanders Ouida 

Lobo     (Wild    Animals    I     Have 

Known)     Seton 

Rollo  Learning  Not  To J.  S.  C.  Abbott 

Chimes  from  a  Jester's  Bells Burdette 

A  Man  Without  a  Country Hale 

Timothy's  Quest    Wiggin 

Christmas     Eve     in     a     Lumber 

Camp   Black  Rock,  by  Connor  (Chap.  I) 

Gallagher    Richard  H.  Davis 

700    Kipling 

The  Walking  Delegate Kipling 

Sonny   (Chapters  I  and  III) Ruth  McEnery  Stuart 

Meko  the  Mischief  Maker Long 

Ways  of  the  Woods  Folks Long 


APPENDIX  249 

The    Monkey    that    Would    Not 

Kill    Drummond 

Editha's  Burglar   R  H.  Burnett 

Following  the   Deer Long 

What  a  Boy  Saw  in  the  War. . . . 

Rikki-tikki-tavi    Kipling 

The  Boy  Recruits  (St.  Nicholas)  .Willis  B.  Hawkins 
His      Duty       (The      Missionary 

Sheriff)    Octave  Thanet 

Joel,  a  Boy  of  Galilee Annie  Fellows- Johnston 

Miss  Julia  W.  Williamson,  Director  of   Sory-Telling  for  the 
Philadelphia  Free  Library: 

Stories  with  a  Sense  Appeal 
The  Gingerbread  Boy 

The  Tar  Baby Uncle  Remus 

Three  Goats  Gruff Asbjornsen 

Fairy  Stories 
Cinderella 

Jack  and  the  Beanstalk 
Snow    White    and    the    Magic 
Mirror 

Myths 

The  Gorgon's  Head Greek      (Hawthorne's     Wonder- 
book) 

The  Three  Golden  Apples Greek 

Thor's  Hammer  Norse 

Baldur  and  the  Mistletoe Norse 

Folk  Tales  and  Legends 
William  Tell 
Rumpelstilzkin 

Hero  Tales 

Ulysses    - .  Homer 

David  and  Goliath The  Old  Testament 

Lincoln 
Jeanne  d'Arc 

Stories  of  Real  Life 
Tom  Sawyer  (whitewashing  the 

fence) 
Rikki-tikki-tavi 


250  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Prof.  John  H.  Cox,  author  of  "Folk-Tales  of  East  and  West" : 

Stones  with  a  Sense  Appeal 
The    Hollow    Tree   and    Deep 
Woods  Book  Albert   Bigelow  Paine    (Harper) 

Fairy  Stories 

The  Bremen  Town  Musicians. .  German — Grimm's  Folk  Tales 
Cinderella Perrault 

Myths 

The  Book  of   Nature  Myths- 
primitive  races   Holbrook   (Houghton  Mifflin) 

Folk  Tales  and  Legends 

The  Old  Iron  Pot. Swedish  Folk  Tale  in  "Folk  Tales 

of     East    and    West"     (Little, 
Brown  &  Co) 

The  Tongue-Cut  Sparrow Japanese  Folk  Tale  in  "Japanese 

Fairy   Tales"    (Rand,    McNally 
&  Co.) 
Hero  Tales 

A  Dog  of  Flanders Flemish — by  Ouida 

Some     Merry     Adventures     of 
Robin  Hood   English,  by  Pyle  (Scribners) 

Professor   Edward   Porter   St.  John,  author  of   "Stories  and 
Story-Telling  in  Moral  Education": 

Fairy  Stories 
The  Three  Bears 
Why  the  Sea  Is  Salt 
Cinderella 

Folk  Tales  and  Legends 
The  Legend  of  St.  Christopher 
Legends   of    King   Arthur   and 

His  Knights 

The  Bre'r  Rabbit  Stories 
The  Jackall  Stories — Sara  Cone 
Bryant's  books 

Hero  Tales 
Stories  of  David 
Stories  of  Siegfried 

Stones  of  Real  Life 
The  "Little  Women"  Stories 


APPENDIX  251 

Julia  Darrow  Cowles,  author  of  "The  Art  of  Story-Telling" : 
Stories  with  a  Sense  Appeal 

"Raggylug,"  Seton-Thompson,  in  "How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Chil- 
dren," Bryant  (Houghton,  Mifflin,  Boston) 

"Lesson  of  Faith,"  Mrs.  Gatty,  in  "Art  of  Story-Telling,"  Cowles 
(McClurg,  Chicago) 

"Little  Sister  Kindness,"  Fox,  in  "Art  of  Story-Telling,"  Cowles 
(McClurg,  Chicago) 

"Story  of  the  Lilac  Bush,"  in  "Polly  Oliver's  Problem,"  by  Wig- 
gin  (Houghton,  Mifflin,  Boston) 

Fairy  Stories 

"The  Three  Lemons,"  Laboulaye,  in  "Favorite  Fairy  Tales  Re- 
told," Cowles  (McClurg,  Chicago) 

"The  Twelve  Months,"  Laboulaye,  in  "Favorite  Fairy  Tales  Re- 
told," Cowles  (McClurg,  Chicago) 

"The  Queen's  Necklace,"  Nyblom,  in  "Art  of  Story-Telling," 
Cowles  (McClurg,  Chicago) 

"The  Child's  Wish"  (orig.),  in  "Stories  to  Tell,"  Cowles  (Flana- 
gan, Chicago) 

Myths 
"Legend  of  the  Arbutus"  (N.  A.  Indian),  in  "Wigwam  Stories," 

by  Judd   (Rand,   McNally,  Chicago) 
"The  Dun  Horse"  (N.  A.  Indian),  Grinnell,  in  "Stories  to  Tell," 

Cowles  (Flanagan,  Chicago) 

Folk  Tales  and  Legends 
"The  Enchanted  Wine- Jug,  or  How  the  Dog  and  Cat  Became 

Enemies,"  in  "Stories  to  Tell,"  Cowles  (Flanagan,  Chicago) 
"Enchanted  Mead"  (adaptation  of  above),  in  "Favorite  Fairy  Tale 

Book"  (McClurg,  Chicago) 

Hero  Tales 

"The  Coming  of  Arthur,"  in  "Some  Great  Stories  and  How  to 

Tell  Them,"  Wyche   (H.  D.  Newson,  New  York) 
"Robin   Hood  and    Sir   Richard-at-the-Lee,"  in   "Art  of   Story- 
Telling,"  Cowles  (McClurg,  Chicago) 

Stories  of  Real  Life 

"Hold-Fast  Tom,"  in  "Art  of  Story-Telling,"  Cowles  (McClurg, 
Chicago) 

Horace   Mann  Kindergarten,   New  York,   furnished  by  Patty 
Smith  Hill: 

Stories  with  a  Sense  Appeal 
The  Little  Pig 


252  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Fairy  Stories 
Shoemaker  and  Elves Grimm,  adapted 

Myths 
Siegfried  Guerber,  adapted 

Folk  Tiles  and  Legends 
Three  Bears 

Hero  Tales 
Siegfried 

Stones  of  Real  Life 
Mrs.  Tabby  Grey Maud  Lindsay 


II 

A  LIST  OF  BOOKS  ON   STORY-TELLING 
To  ACCOMPANY  CHAPTER  IV 

How  TO  TELL  STORIES  TO  CHILDREN,  by  Sara  Cone  Bryant,  published 
by  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

This  was  the  first  good  American  book  on  story-telling  and 
it  has  not  been  superseded  nor  surpassed.  It  is  charmingly  written, 
thoroughly  practical  and  contains  a  good  bibliography  and  a  num- 
ber of  the  best  stories  gathered  from  various  sources,  personally 
adapted  by  the  author. 

STORIES  AND  STORY-TELLING  IN  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION, 
by  Edward  Porter  St.  John,  published  by  the  Pilgrim  Press, 
Boston. 

An  excellent  little  manual  going  briefly  but  helpfully  into  the 
philosophy  of  story-telling.  It  is  intended  for  class  use.  No 
stories  are  included. 

STORY-TELLING  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME,  by  E.  N.  and  G.  E.  Partridge, 
published  by  Sturgis  &  Walton  Co.,  New  York. 

Dr.  George  E.  Partridge  writes  the  first  part  of  the  book 
giving  a  history  of  story-telling,  analyzing  story-forms  and  offer- 
ing helpful  suggestions  as  to  methods.  In  the  second  part,  Mrs. 
Partridge  offers  an  attractive  collection  of  stories  adapted  by 
herself. 

SOME  GREAT  STORIES  AND  How  TO  TELL  THEM,  by  Richard  Thomas 
Wyche,  published  by  Newson  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Mr.  Wyche,  president  of  the  National  Story-Tellers'  League, 
believes  in  telling  long  stories  and  the  distinctive  value  of  this 
book  is  that  he  shows  how  to  do  it. 


APPENDIX  253 

STORIES  AND  STORY-TELLING,  by  Angela  M.  Keyes,  published  by  D. 
Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 

A  short,  crisp  introduction  to  the  art  of  story-telling,  with 
200  pages  of  well  written  and  adapted  stories. 
STORY-TELLING  :  WHAT  TO  TELL  AND  How  TO  TELL  IT,  by  Edna  Ly- 
rnan,  published  by  A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.,  Chicago. 

Miss   Lyman   covers    such  helpful   topics   as   reading  aloud, 
arranging  a  program,  selecting  biographical  stories,  telling  ethnic 
tales,  etc.     She  interweaves  with  her  chapters  a  catalog  of  stories 
and  gives  the  most  helpful  story  programs  we  have  seen. 
FOR  THE  STORY-TELLER,  by  Carolyn  Sherwin  Bailey,  published  by 
Milton  Bradley  Co.,  Springfield. 

Miss    Bailey    classifies    stories    helpfully,    gives    an   excellent 
story  in  each  class  and  offers  an  excellent  series  of  programs. 
THE  ART  OF  STORY-TELLING,  by  Julia  Darrow  Cowles,  published  by 
A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.,  Chicago. 

Some  excellent  and  fresh  suggestions  on  methods.  Half  of 
the  book  is  given  to  selected  stories  to  tell. 

TELLING  BIBLE  STORIES,  by  Louise  Seymour  Houghton,  published  by 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 

A  very  careful  analysis  of  the  Bible  as  a  book  of  stories, 
showing  how  each  of  the  ancient  narratives  may  best  be  inter- 
preted to  children. 
A  MANUSCRIPT  ON  STORY-TELLING,  by  Stephani  Schiitze. 

Mr.  Schiitze  kindly  gave  the  writer  permission  to  read  his 
nearly  completed  manuscript  before  publication.  It  is  an  espe- 
cially serious-minded  treatment  of  the  subject  and  is  bound  to 
be  helpful  to  the  professional  story-teller. 


Ill 

A  LIST  OF  BOOKS  CONTAINING  PICTURE-STORIES  OR 
DESCRIPTIONS 

To  ACCOMPANY  CHAPTER  VII 

How  TO  ENJOY  PICTURES,  290  pp.,  by  M.  S.  Emery,  published  by  the 
Prang  Co.,  New  York. 

Although  published  fifteen  years  ago,  there  is  still  no  better 
book  than  this  of  Miss  Emery's  to  learn  how  to  appreciate  all  the 
fine  points  of  a  good  picture.  She  studies  pictures  by  theme 
rather  than  by  period  or  school,  which  is  the  right  approach  for 
children.  There  is  a  chapter  upon  magazine  illustrations,  one 


254  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

upon  the  processes  of  reproduction  and  one  upon  school-room 
decoration.    There  is  an  illustration  with  each  picture  studied. 
How  TO  SHOW  PICTURES  TO  CHILDREN,  138  pp.,  by  Estelle  M.  Hurll, 

published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  at  $1.00. 

Miss  Hurll  has  become  our  most  popular  interpreter  of  art 
to  children.  In  this  small  volume  she  has  collected  a  number  of 
useful  articles  showing  the  various  ways  of  helping  children  to  love 
good  pictures.  Some  of  her  suggestive  chapter  titles  are  these: 
"How  to  Make  Pictures  Tell  Stories,"  "Story  Pictures,"  "Prac- 
tical Suggestions  for  the  Mother  for  the  Child's  Picture  Educa- 
tion," "The  Use  of  Pictures  in  the  School  Room."  Each  chapter 
closes  with  a  short  list  of  attractive  pictures  that  are  available  to 
the  average  mother. 
THE  CHILDREN'S  BOOK  OF  ART,  202  pp.,  by  Agnes  Ethel  Conway 

and  Sir  Martin  Conway,  published  by  Adam  and  Charles  Black, 

London. 

Nothing  better  can  be  found  for  interesting  young  people  who 
are  old  enough  to  be  thoughtful  in  good  pictures.  This  is  a  most 
simple  and  sensible  book.  It  interweaves  a  sketch  of  the  history 
of  art  with  illustrations  typical  of  each  period.  It  shows  the 
young  scoffer  the  spirit  that  was  behind  the  quaintness  of  the 
thirteenth  century  art  and  reveals  the  possibilities  which  color, 
composition  and  inspiration  may  achieve.  The  most  noticeable 
characteristic  of  the  book  is  its  wonderful  reproductions  in  color 
of  paintings.  The  subjects  selected  are  unusual  ones  hanging  in 
English  galleries,  and  their  choice  is  well  suited  to  the  apprecia- 
tion of  young  people. 
ART  TALKS  WITH  YOUNG  FOLKS,  110  pp.,  by  Sophie  M.  Collmann, 

published  by  The  Ark,  224-6  E.  Seventh  St.,  Cincinnati. 

Eight  excellent  art  talks  which  a  mother  actually  gave  to  her 
children  during  the  story-hour.  Perhaps  the  subjects  and  artists 
chosen  were  not  those  most  suited  to  children,  unless  they  were 
unusually  thoughtful  ones,  but  the  book  shows  how  it  is  possible 
for  a  mother  to  interweave  all  that  she  knows  of  pictures  and 
feels  of  romance  into  her  familiar  intercourse  with  boys  and  girls 
of  ten  to  fourteen  years  of  age. 
GUIDE  TO  PICTURES  FOR  BEGINNERS,  253  pp.,  by  Charles  H.  Caffin, 

published  by  the  Baker  &  Taylor  Co.,  New  York. 

Probably  the  best  single  book  for  the  purpose  indicated  by  its 
title.  Mr.  Caffin  is  himself  a  respectable  critic  and  his  judgments 
are  usually  sound.  Composition,  landscape,  form  and  color  are 
the  principal  topics  of  the  book.  The  mother  herself  will  enjoy 
his  more  advanced  book,  "How  to  Study  Pictures,"  pp.  513,  pub- 
lished by  the  Century  Co.,  New  York,  in  which  he  ingeniously 
places  opposite  each  other  paralleled  or  contrasting  artists,  schools 


APPENDIX  255 

and  pictures.  Even  the  amateur  feels  that  she  gets  an  insight 
into  some  of  the  purposes  and  ideals  of  the  artists  by  this  carefully 
worked-out  method. 

PICTURE  STUDY  IN  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS,  two  parts  bound  to- 
gether: xxviii  238  pp.,  and  xxiii  190  pp.,  by  L.  L.  W.  Wilson, 
published  by  the  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York. 

Two  books,  for  primary  and  elementary  grades.  There  are 
interesting  comment  and  good  questions,  with  excellent  book 
and  magazine  references,  upon  the  pictures  and  painters  commonly 
studied  in  school.  The  selection  of  pictures  follows  the  seasons 
and  festivals  of  the  year.  They  do  not  impress  one  as  chosen 
with  much  regard  for  the  real  interests  of  children.  They  are 
the  things  that  adults  think  children  ought  to  like.  There  is  a 
smaller  edition  containing  only  the  pictures  with  appropriate 
mottoes  and  verses  opposite. 

THE  MEANING  OF  PICTURES,  161  pp.,  by  John  C.  van  Dyke,  published 
by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York 

A  useful  book  by  which  the  mother  can  learn  to  appreciate 
pictures.  The  author  discusses  Truth  in  Painting,  the  Personal 
Element,  Pictorial  Poetry,  the  Decorative  Quality,  Subject  in 
Painting,  etc. 

THE  APPRECIATION  OF  PICTURES,  308  pp.,  by  Russell  Sturgis,  pub- 
lished by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  Garden  City,  New  York. 

Another  helpful  book  for  the  mother.  Mr.  Sturgis  tries  to 
show  the  mother  how  to  appreciate  pictures  by  telling  what  each 
age  of  painters  tried  to  do.  The  book  is  really  a  sketch-history 
of  art. 

How  TO  LOOK  AT  PICTURES,  173  pp.,  by  Robert  Clermont  Witt,  pub- 
lished by  G.  Bell  &  Sons,  Limited,  London. 

This,  too,  is  an  excellent  book,  especially  intended  to  prepare 

adults  to  visit  galleries,  but  equally  useful  to  those  who  must 

do  their  picture-study  in  their  homes.     The  author  discusses  the 

artist's  point  of  view,  the  consideration  of  date,  the  influence  of 

race  and  country  and  the  schools  of  painting.    Then  he  takes  up 

the  various  kinds  of  pictures,  the  portrait,  the  historical  painting, 

the  landscape,  genre,  and  closes  with  simple  chapters  on  drawing, 

color,  lights  and  shades,  composition  and  treatment. 

PICTURES  THAT  EVERY  CHILD  SHOULD  KNOW,  387  pp.,  by  Dolores 

Bacon,  published  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  Garden  City,  New 

York. 

A  study  of  forty-five  artists  with  seventy-five  examples  of 
their  work,  the  men  and  pictures  that  children  when  they  grow 
up  will  wish  to  know.  There  is  a  sketch  of  each  artist's  life  and 
short  comment  on  each  reproduction.  The  book  is  one  for 
high-school  pupils. 


256  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

FAMOUS  PICTURES  OF  REAL  BOYS  AND  GIRLS,  160  pp.,  by  Lorinda 
Munson  Bryant,  published  by  John  Lane  Co.,  New  York. 

A  selection  of  fifty-five  well-known  children  from  the  time 
of  the  Medici  to  the  present,  with  most  interesting  comment  upon 
their  lives  and  the  circumstances  under  which  their  portraits  were 
painted. 

FAMOUS  PICTURES  OF  CHILDREN,  144  pp.,  by  Julia  Augusta  Schwartz, 
published  by  the  American  Book  Co.,  New  York. 

A   book    for    supplementary   reading   in    school.      There   are 
seventeen  reproductions.     This  little  book  is  characterized  by  its 
excellent  descriptions  in  each  case,  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  child  was  painted,  of  the  meaning  of  the  picture  and 
of  the  after  history  of  the  child  or  the  picture. 
STORIES  OF  GREAT  ARTISTS,  157  pp.,  by  Olive  Browne  Home  and 
•    Katherine  Lois  Scobey,  published  by  the  American  Book  Co., 
New  York. 

Incidents  that  would  interest  children  in  artists'  lives  with 
reproductions  of  their  famous  works.  The  artists  studied  are 
Raphael,  Angelo,  Rembrandt,  Reynolds,  Corot,  Landseer,  Bon- 
heur  and  Millet. 

CYR  GRADED  ART  READERS,  about  130  pp.  each,  by  Ellen  M.  Cyr, 
published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

There  are  three  of  these  readers.  Each  one  of  them  takes 
up  in  a  simple  and  pleasant  way  the  lives  of  several  artists  and 
gives  charming  reproductions  in  two-tone  prints  of  such  of  their 
works  as  are  most  interesting  to  children  and  also  gives  simple 
descriptions  of  these  reproductions. 

PICTURE  STORIES  FROM  THE  GREAT  ARTISTS,  128  pp.,  by  Mary  R.  Cady 
and  Julia  M.  Dewey,  published  by  the  Macmillan  Co.,  New 
York. 

Pleasant  little  sketches,  for  children  just  learning  to  read, 
of  artists,  with  interwoven  descriptions  of  their  pictures,  which 
are  reproduced  in  half-tone.  The  artists  are  Bonheur,  Van  Dyke, 
Landseer  and  Murillo. 

DECORATIVE  AND  EDUCATIONAL  PICTURES,  89  pp.,  Margary  L.  Gilson 
and  J.  C.  Dana,  published  by  the  Elm  Tree  Press,  Woodstock, 
Vt. 

A  manual  intended  for  libraries  but  useful  for  the  home, 
upon  large  wall  pictures,  giving  lists  of  such  pictures,  reproduc- 
tions of  a  few  and  a  list  of  the  leading  art  publishers  of  America 
with  some  idea  of  their  respective  stocks  and  prices. 


APPENDIX  257 


IV 

A   LIST    OF   BOOKS    ON    DRAMATICS    AND   OF    STORY- 
PLAYS   FOR   CHILDREN 

To  ACCOMPANY  CHAPTER  IX 

The  following  lists  are  drawn  largely  from  those  compiled  by 
the  Drama  League  of  America,  and  are  used  by  special  permission. 
Additions,  however,  have  been  made  by  the  writer. 

BOOKS    ON    FOLK-DANCING 

THE  HEALTHFUL  ART  OF  DANCING. — Luther  H.  Gulick.  (A  discus- 
sion of  the  value  of  folk-dancing  through  the  school  and 
through  society,  with  a  list  of  over  thirty  books  containing  music 
and  descriptions  of  folk  dances.)  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 

CHILDREN'S  SINGING  GAMES. — Mari  R.  Hofer.  A  Flanagan  Co., 
Chicago,  111. 

FOLK  DANCES. — Elizabeth  Buchanal.     G.  Schirmer,  New  York. 

FOLK  DANCES  AND  GAMES. — Caroline  Crawford.  The  A.  S.  Barnes 
Co.,  New  York. 

POPULAR  FOLK  GAMES  AND  DANCES. — Mari  R.  Hofer.  A  Flanagan 
Co.,  Chicago,  111. 

BOOKS   ON   DRAMATIC   PLAYS   AND   GAMES 

EDUCATION  BY  PLAYS  AND  GAMES. — George  Ellsworth  Johnson. 
(Our  standard  book  on  play,  enumerating  many  dramatic  games 
and  placing  them  where  they  belong  in  the  child's  development.) 
Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

MANUAL  OF  PLAY. — William  Byron  Forbush.  (Contains  the  first 
graded  and  annotated  list  of  playthings,  naming  and  describing 
many  dramatic  games  and  plays.)  American  Institute  of  Child 
Life,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

GAMES  FOR  THE  PLAYGROUND,  HOME,  SCHOOL  AND  GYMNASIUM. — 
Jessie  H.  Bancroft.  (Gives  graded  descriptions  of  many  active 
dramatic  games  for  all  ages.)  The  Macmillan  Co.,  New 
York. 

EASY  GAMES  FOR  LITTLE  PLAYERS. — Margaret  Boughton.  (An  Eng- 
lish publication,  showing  how  to  turn  the  nursery  rhymes  into 
dramatic  form.  This  would  be  excellent  for  a  children's  party 
or  for  any  little  circle  that  chances  to  be  meeting  in  the  home. 


258  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

The    suggested    dialogue    does    not   need    to    be    memorized.) 
Charles  &  Dible,  London. 

BOOKS  ON  THEATRICALS 

WHEN  MOTHER  LETS  Us  ACT.— Stella  G.  S.  Perry.  (An  excellent 
series  of  suggestions  about  amateur  acting  for  little  children.) 
Moffat,  Yard  &  Co.,  New  York. 

AMATEUR  THEATRICALS.— Charles  Townsend.  (General  directions 
for  acting  and  making  up  for  young  people.)  Dick  &  Fitz- 
gerald, New  York. 

EDUCATIONAL  DRAMATICS.— Emma  Sheridan  Fry.  (The  last  forty 
pages  give  careful  directions  for  coaching  young  people  for 
theatricals.)  Moffat,  Yard  &  Co.,  New  York. 

YEAR  BOOK,  1912.  (Contains  significant  article  on  children's  plays 
and  how  to  stage  them.)  Published  by  the  Francis  W.  Parker 
School,  Chicago. 

DRAMATIC    READERS 

FOR  USE  IN   HOME   AND  CLASS-ROOM   RATHER  THAN   FOR  THE   STAGE 

CYR'S  DRAMATIC  READER.     (6  to  8  years.)     Ginn  &  Co.,  Chicago. 
LITTLE  PLAYS  FOR  LITTLE  PLAYERS. — Mara  L.  Pratt- Chad  wick.     (6 

to  8  years.)    Educational  Publishing  Co.,  Chicago. 
CHILD   LORE   DRAMATIC   READER. — Katherine   L.    Bryce.      (7    to    10 

years.)     Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 

DRAMATIC  READER. — Florence  Holbrook.     (7  to  10  years.)     Ameri- 
can Book  Co.,  Chicago. 
PLAYS  FROM  THE  WONDER  BOOK. — Grace  Dietrich  McCarthy.     (10  to 

13  years.)     Educational  Publishing  Co.,  Chicago. 
DRAMATIC  READER. — Marietta  Knight.     (10  to  14  years.)     American 

Book  Co.,  Chicago. 
DRAMATIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  CLASSICS.— Mary  La   Selle.     (12  to  14 

years.)     Educational  Publishing  Co.,  Chicago. 
CHILDREN'S    CLASSICS    IN    DRAMATIC    FORM. — Augusta    Stevenson. 

Book    One.     Book   Two.     Book    Three.      Book   Four.      Book 

Five.    Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 
A  BOOK  OF   PLAYS   FOR  LITTLE  ACTORS.— Emma   L.    Johnston   and 

Madalene  D.  Barnum.     (6  to  8  years.)     The  American  Book 

Co.,  New  York. 
LITTLE  DRAMAS.— Ada  Maria  Skinner  and  Lillian  Nixon  Lawrence. 

(5  to  6  years.)     The  American  Book  Co. 
STORY    PLAYS.— Alice    Sumner   Varney.      (5   to    8   years.)      Three 

books,  about  172  pp.  each.    The  American  Book  Co.,  New  York. 


APPENDIX  259 

DRAMATIZATION:  SELECTIONS  FROM  ENGLISH  CLASSICS  ADAPTED  IN 
DRAMATIC  FORM. — Sara  E.  Simons  and  Clem  Irwin  Orr. 
(Twenty-two  plays  from  the  classics,  for  young  people  14  to 
18,  with  introductory  suggestions.)  Scott,  Foresman  &  Co., 
Chicago. 

FAIRY  TALES  A  CHILD  CAN  READ  AND  ACT.— Lillian  Edith  Nixon. 
(The  good  old  fairy  stories  and  Alice  in  Wonderland  turned 
into  dialogue.  The  arrangement  is  suitable  for  children  to 
read  in  dialogue.)  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  Garden  City,  New 
York. 

PUBLISHED    PLAYS 

KINDERGARTEN  PLAYS  (two  volumes,  containing  five  plays). — Clem- 
entina Black.    J.  M.  Dent  &  Son,  London. 
THE  WILD  ANIMAL  PLAY. — Ernest   Seton   Thompson.     (For  very 

small  children;  7  girls,  10  boys;  time,  45  minutes.)     Doubleday, 

Page  &  Co.,  New  York. 
BOOK   OF    PLAYS    FOR   LITTLE   ACTORS. — Johnston    &    Barnum.      (15 

plays;  6  to  8  years.)     American  Book  Co.,  Chicago. 
ADAM'S    DREAM   AND   OTHER   MIRACLE   PLAYS. — Alice   Corbin.      (3 

plays;  4  to  12  characters  each;  8  to  14  years.)     Charles  Scrib- 

ner's  Sons,  New  York. 
LITTLE  PLAYS. — Lena  Dalkeith.     (5  plays;  3  to  14  characters  each; 

10  to  12  years.)     E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  New  York. 
HARPER'S  BOOK  OF  LITTLE  PLAYS. — Selected  by  Madalene  D.  Barnum. 

(6  plays;  5  to  18  characters  each;  10  to  14  years.)     Harper  & 

Bros.,  New  York. 
FAIRY  PLAYS  AND  How  TO  ACT  THEM. — Lady  Bell.     (14  plays;  3  to 

15  characters  each;  6  to  12  years.)     Longmans,  Green  &  Co., 

New  York. 
THE  MAGIC  WHISTLE  AND  OTHER  PLAYS.— Frank  Nesbitt.    (6  plays ; 

7  to  22  characters  each;  7  to  12  years.  )  Longmans,  Green  & 

Co.,  New  York. 
FOUR  PLAYS  FOR  CHILDREN. — John  J.  Chapman.     (4  plays;  6  to  20 

characters  each;   10  to   14  years.)     Moffat,  Yard  &  Co.,  New 

York. 
LITTLE  WOMEN   PLAY. — Adapted  by  Elizabeth  Lincoln  Gould.     (6 

girls,  2  boys;  time,  45  minutes;  10  to  14  years.)     Little,  Brown 

&  Co.,  Boston. 
EFFIE'S   CHRISTMAS   DREAM. — Adapted  by   Louise   Claire   Foucher. 

(40  characters;  time,  40  minutes;  8  to  12  years.)    Little,  Brown 

&  Co.,  Boston. 
THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  HEART  AND  OTHER  PLAYS.— Constance  D'arcy 

Mackaye.     (10  plays  of  an  ethical  nature;  8  to  14  characters 

each;  8  to  12  years.)     Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  New  York 


260  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

THE  SILVER  THREAD  AND  OTHER  FOLK  PLAYS.— Constance  D'arcy 
Mackaye.  (8  plays;  3  to  25  characters  each,  10  to  14  years.) 
Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  New  York. 

PATRIOTIC  PLAYS  AND  PAGEANTS.— Constance  D'arcy  Mackaye.  (8 
plays ;  15  to  45  characters  each ;  may  be  given  as  single  plays  or 
as  a  complete  pageant;  12  to  18  years.)  Henry  Holt  &  Co., 
New  York. 

HIAWATHA.— Florence  Holbrook.  (Adapted  from  Longfellow's 
poem.)  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Chicago. 

HOME  PLAYS  FOR  BOYS  AND  GIRLS. — Edited  by  Cecil  H.  Bullivant. 
(18  plays;  12  to  17  years.)  T.  C  &  E.  C.  Jack,  London. 

ALICE  IN  WONDERLAND,  AND  OTHER  FAIRY  PLAYS. — Kate  Freiligrath- 
Kroeker.  (10  to  14  years.)  Dick  &  Fitzgerald,  New  York. 

SUCCESSFUL  ENTERTAINMENTS. — Willis  N.  Bugbee.  (Historic  dia- 
logues, holiday  plays  and  literary  exercises  for  young  people.) 
The  Penn  Publishing  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

HISTORICAL  PLAYS  FOR  CHILDREN. — Grace  E.  Bird  and  Maud  Star- 
ling. (A  series  of  historical  dialogues,  telling  the  story  of 
dramatic  portions  of  the  lives  of  notable  people  from  Columbus 
to  Abraham  Lincoln.)  The  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York. 

HISTORICAL  PLAYS  FOR  CHILDREN  (two  volumes). — Amice  Mac- 
Donell.  (11  plays  dealing  with  English  history;  14  to  30  char- 
acters each;  mostly  boys;  12  to  16  years.)  George  Allen  & 
Co.,  London. 

SNOW-WHITE. — Florence  Davenport  Adams.  (2  girls,  4  boys;  time, 
20  minutes;  10  to  12  years.)  Dramatic  Publishing  Co.,  Chi- 
cago. 

WHEN  KNIGHTS  WERE  BOLD.— Mar jorie  Benton  Cook.  (1  girl,  7 
boys;  time,  30  minutes;  12  to  14  years.)  Dramatic  Publishing 
Co.,  Chicago. 

THE  FIRST  THANKSGIVING  DINNER.— Mar  jorie  Benton  Cook.  (5 
girls,  7  boys;  time,  25  minutes;  12  to  14  years.)  Dramatic  Pub- 
lishing Co.,  Chicago. 

ALICE  IN  WONDERLAND. — Dramatized  by  Mrs.  Burton  Harrison.  (14 
girls,  16  boys;  time,  f  hour,  30  minutes;  10  to  14  years.)  Dra- 
nmtic  Publishing  Co.,  Chicago. 

THE  DAME  SCHOOL  HOLIDAY  (From  "THE  SCHOOLMASTER  IN  COM- 
EDY AND  SATIRE").— Marie  Edgeworth.  (8  girls,  5  boys;  10  to 
14  years.  A  picture  of  old  English  school  life.)  American 
Book  Co.,  Chicago. 

HOLIDAY  PLAYS. — Marguerite  Merington  (5  plays ;  4  to  7  characters 
each;  10  to  14  years.)  Duffield  &  Co.,  New  York. 

HOME  PLAYS  FOR  BOYS  AND  GIRLS. — Arranged  by  Cecil  H.  Bullivant. 
(27  plays;  6  to  30  characters  each;  8  to  15  years.)  Dodge  Pub- 
lishing Co.,  New  York. 


APPENDIX  261 

THE  ROSE  OF  PLYMOUTH.— Beulah  Marie  Dix,  Evelyn  Greenleaf 
Sutherland.  (4  girls,  4  boys;  time,  1  hour,  30  minutes;  14  to 
16  years.  Picture  of  Colonial  times.)  Dramatic  Publishing 
Co.,  Chicago. 

THE  BLUE  BIRD.— Maurice  Maeterlinck.  (10  to  16  years.  Omitting 
the  Palace  of  Night,  the  Forest  and  the  Graveyard  scenes,  this 
play  may  be  easily  adapted  to  children.)  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co., 
New  York. 

THE  NATIVITY.— Douglas  Hyde.  (!N  POETS  AND  DREAMERS,  com- 
piled by  Lady  Gregory.)  (3  girls,  7  boys;  child  angels;  12  to 
16  years.  (Out  of  print,  but  may  be  found  in  libraries.) 

JUDAS  MACCABEUS— Longfellow.     (Heroic  drama;  12  to  16  years.) 

HANSEL  AND  GRETEL. — Libretto.  (German  folk  tale;  7  main  char- 
acters, numerous  children  and  angels;  10  to  16  years.)  Pub- 
lished by  F.  Rullman,  111  Broadway,  New  York. 

THE  BEN  GREET  SHAKESPEARE.  (The  Tempest;  As  You  Like  It; 
Merchant  of  Venice;  Midsummer  Night's  Dream.)  Double- 
day,  Page  &  Co.,  New  York. 

PLAYS  FOR  OLDER  GIRLS.— For  older  girls  from  16  up,  E.  S.  Werner, 
45  East  Twenty-ninth  Street,  New  York  City,  publishes  several 
plays  which  appeal  strongly  to  the  girls,  though  their  art  may 
be   seriously  questioned: 
Anita's    Trial. — A    camp    play    of    fourteen    characters — Three 

acts. 

Two  Little  Rebels. — Two  acts — Eleven  parts — Two  negro. 
A  Virginia  Heroine. — Long — Must  be  cut. 
Rebecca's    Triumph. — Sixteen    parts — One    negro,    one    Irish — 

Long. 

After  the  Game. — Ten  characters — All  popular  with  girls. 
Aunt  Matilda's  Birthday. — Nine  parts — one  act. 
An  Auction  at  Meadowvale. — Eight  parts — One  act. 
The  Return  of  Letty. 
The  Lost  Prince. — A  Christmas  play. 
Robin's   Specific. — Christmas  operetta. 

PLAYS  FOR  OLDER  BOYS. — Publications  of  Dick  &  Fitzgerald,  New 
York: 

Wanted:  a  Confidential  Clerk— A  Holy  Terror— April  Fools- 
Mischievous  Bob. 

Publications  of  Penn  Publishing  Co.,  Philadelphia : 

Case  of  Smythe  vs.  Smith — Forget-Me-Nots — When  Doctors 
Disagree. 

Publications  of  Walter  H.  Baker  &  Co.,  Boston : 

The  Revolving  Wedge ;  a  football  romance — A  Town  Meeting 
— A  New  Broom  Sweeps  Clean — Wanted:  a  Male  Cook — 
Brother  against  Brother — Gentlemen  of  the  Jury — Freedom  of 


262  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

the  Press— The  King  of  the  Cannibal  Islands— A  Sea  of 
Troubles— What  They  Did  for  Jenkins— The  Humors  of  the 
Strike— My  Lord  in  Livery. 

Other  entertainments  that  are  good  for  boys  only  are: 

Hiawatha  Entertainments,  by  Edgar  S.  Werner  &  Co.,  45  East 
Twenty-ninth  Street,  New  York— Roll  Call  of  the  Nation,  by 

the   same Valley    Forge,   by   the    same — Sketches,    Skits    and 

Stunts,  by  the  Penn  Publishing  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

A  group  of  short  plays  are  dramatizations  by  children's  classes  of 
the  Francis  W.  Parker  School,  Chicago,  and  may  be  purchased 
from  the  School. 


UNPUBLISHED   PLAYS 

MAY  BE  OBTAINED  IN   MS.   FORM  BY  WRITING  TO  THE  AUTHORS 

Miss  KATHERINE  LORD,  10  Gramercy  Park,  New  York  City. 

Miss  HERMINE  SCHWED,  34  Tomkins  Avenue,  Tompkinsville, 
N.  Y. 

Miss  FREDA  DAVIDSON,  2  West  Eighty-ninth  Street,  New  York 
City. 

MR.  MAURICE  S.  KUHNS,  4407  Berkeley  Avenue,  Chicago. 

Miss  FLORENCE  HOLBROOK,  562  Oakwood  Boulevard,  Chicago. 

Several  plays  have  been  written  by  or  arranged  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Mrs.  Amelia  D.  Hookway,  and  have  had  successful  stage 
presentation.  For  typed  manuscript,  suggestions  as  to  staging,  etc., 
address  Miss  Katherine  D.  Jackson,  601  Independence  Boulevard, 
Chicago.  Please  enclose  stamped  envelope. 


PLAYS    IN    GERMAN 

May  be  purchased  from  Koelling  &   Klappenbach,    170  West 

Adams  Street,  Chicago : 

RASPER  IM  MARCHEN-LANDE.  (Contains  several  plays,  the  best  of 
which  is  a  simple  version  of  Hansel  und  Gretel.) 

ILLUSTRIRTES  THEATER  BUCHLEIN  FUR  KINDER. — Louise  Pichler.  a. 
Dornroschen  (11  characters;  5  acts;  30  minutes),  b.  Der 
kluge  Hans  (5  acts;  8  characters;  time,  20  minutes),  c.  Pre- 
ciosa  (in  verse,  5  acts;  8  characters;  time,  20  minutes),  d. 
Schatzhauer  im  griinen  Tannenwald  (5  acts;  8  characters;  time, 
40  minutes),  e.  Hans  im  Gluck  (5  acts;  8  characters;  time, 
25  minutes). 


APPENDIX  263 

C.  A.  CORNER'S  KINDER  THEATER,  a.  Schneeweisschen  und  Rosen- 
roth  (5  acts;  12  characters;  time,  1  hour),  b.  Aschen-brodel 
(9  characters;  time,  1  hour,  30  minutes),  c.  Schneewittchen 
und  die  Zwerge  (17  characters;  time,  1  hour,  30  minutes). 

DIE  VERLORENE  BRILLE.— Emma  Iwa  Schramm.  (2  girls,  1  boy; 
time,  9  minutes;  8  to  10  years.) 

VERGESST  DAS  BESTE  NICHT.— Emma  Iwa  Schramm.  (5  girls,  5 
boys;  time,  20  minutes;  8  to  14  years.) 


PLAYS   IN    FRENCH 

LES  DEUX  FEES  AND  OTHER  PLAYS.— Violet  Partington.     (6  to  12 

years.)     Published  by  Horace  Marshall  &  Son,  London,    a.  Les 

Deux  Fees.    b.  Le  Petit  Chaperon  Rouge,    c.  Le  Jour  de  Conge. 

d.  La  Mendiante.    e.  La  Journee  des  Fleurs. 
DANS  LE  ROYAUME  DES  FEES.— Violet  Partington.     (6  to  12  years.) 

Published  by  Horace  Marshall  &  Son,  London,     a.  Cendrillon. 

b.  La  Belle  et  la  Bete.    c.  La  Belle  au  Bois  Dormant,     d:  Les 

Trois  Ours. 
Six    SHORT   FRENCH    PLAYS. — A.    S.    Johnson.      (12   to    14   years.) 

Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  New  York. 


A   LIST  OF   CHARACTER-BUILDING   STORIES 

A  list  of  stones  has  been  prepared  with  considerable  care,  es- 
pecially for  the  purpose  of  helping  mothers  who  wish  what  we 
might  call  "moral  prescriptions"  for  their  children.  It  is  understood 
that  these  are  all  of  story  length,  that  is  for  telling  aloud  and  not 
for  reading,  either  by  the  parents  or  by  the  child.  We  have  sought 
those  which  are  generally  unfamiliar  and  which  we  believe  to  be 
already  in  effective  form  for  the  purpose.  We  have  also  graded 
them.  The  parenthetical  figures  which  are  suggested  (0-6)  mean 
that  a  given  story  is  believed  to  be  suitable  to  children  up  to  six 
years  of  age.  This  grading  must  necessarily  be  approximate. 
The  stories  selected  for  the  earlier  grades  are  imaginative  in  char- 
acter ;  those  for  the  older  grades  are  realistic,  and  we  have  selected 
few  stories  for  the  high-school  years. 

In  the  choice  of  these  stories  the  endeavor  has  been  made  to 
seek  out  most  plentifully  those  which  have  to  do  with  the  common 
and  besetting  sins  of  children.  The  more  difficult  the  problem,  the 
more  numerous  are  the  selected  stories. 


264  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

The  authors  and  publishers  of  the  books  referred  to  are  gen- 
erally given  in  full  in  the  list  of  Story  Books  in  Appendix  X. 

To  ACCOMPANY  CHAPTER  X 

Ambition  (Aspiration) 
Two  Foolish  Birds  (0-6)  ......  Fairy  Stories  and  Fables 

Gonard    and    the     Pine     Tree 

(6-8)     ......................  For  the  Children's  Hour 

Toad    (6-8)    ..................  Wonder  Stories 

Whittington  and  His  Cat  (6-8)  .  Fifty  Famous  Stories  Retold 
Adventurous  Life  of  an  Acorn 

Fairy  (7-10)    ...........  ----  My  Days  with  the  Fairies 

The  New  Partner  (7-10)  .  .  .  .  .  .In  the  Heart  of  the  Forest 

The      Ambitious      Rose      Tree 

(7-10)    .....................  Bimbi  Stories 

Lampblack  (7-10)    ............  Bimbi  Stories 

The   Goblin  and  the   Huckster 

(11-12)    ....................  Golden  Rule  Series 

He  Aimed   High   and    Hit   the 

Mark  (12-15)   ..............  Stories  from  Life 

Amiability  (Gentleness) 
Little  Blue  Gown  and  the  But- 

terfly  (7-10)    ...............  Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

Appreciation   (See  also  Gratitude,  Thankfulness) 

What  Bradley  Owed   (7-10)  .  .  .  Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 
Hans   Schmelz    (  12-15)  ........  Course  in  Citizenship 

Attention 

Minstrel's  Song  (6-8)  .........  Mother  Stories 

Beginning  with  Small  Things 
The    Fairy's    New    Year    Gift 


......................  Good  Stories  for  Great  Holidays 

Three  Questions    (  10-13)  ......  Ethics  for  Children 

Gareth  and  Lynette  (12-15)  ...  Broadening  Path 

Gareth  and  Lynette   (14-17)  ..  .Lord  Tennyson 
Businesslikeness  (See  Carefulness,  Promptness,  Shrewdness,  Thrift) 
Carefulness  (See  also  Forgetfulness) 

Beet   (6-8)    ...................  Careless  Jane 

Untidy  Amanda  (6-8)  .........  Careless  Jane 

Boisterous  Ann  (6-8)  ..........  Careless  Jane 

Careless  Jane  (6-8)  ............  Careless  Jane 

Half-Done  Polly   (6-8)  ........  Play  Days 

Blunder  (7-10)   ...............  Broadening  Path 

Story  of  Alnaschar   (7-13)  ...  .Stories  and  Story-Telling 


APPENDIX  265 

Charity  (See  also  Generosity,  Helpfulness,  Service) 

Child's  Good  Work  (0-6) Bed-time  Stories 

Story  of  Childe  Chanty  (6-8)  .Wonderful  Chair 
Abraham    and    the    Old    Man 

(6-8)    Book  of  Legends 

Cheerfulness  (Hopefulness) 
Walnut    Tree   that   Wanted   to 

Bear  Tulips  (0-6) Kindergarten  Stories  and  Morn- 
ing Talks 

Christmas  Cuckoo  (6-8) Wonderful  Chair 

Making  the  Best  of  It  (6-8) ...  For  the  Children's  Hour 
Story  of  Merrymount  (6-8)  . . .  Wonderful  Chair 
How  Diseases  and  Cares  Came 

Among  Men   (6-8) Old  Greek  Stories 

The  Christmas  Cuckoo  (7- 10).. Good  Stories  for  Great  Holidays 

The  Magic   Mask   (7-10) Golden  Rule  Series 

Horse  that  B'leeved  He'd   Get 

There  (7-10) Story-Tell  Lib 

Miller  of  the  Dee  (7-10) Fifty  Famous  Stories  Retold 

Pippa    Passes    (7-10) For  the  Children's  Hour 

Blind    Man    and    the    Talking 

Dog  (10-13)  Golden  Rule  Series 

Chivalry 
How  Cedric  Became  a  Knight 

(6-10)    In  Story  Land 

The  Man  Who  Knows  No  Fear 

(12-15)    Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

Cleanliness 

Dirty  Jack  (0-6)    My  Picture  Poetry  Book 

The  Pig  Brother  (0-6) Golden  Windows 

Carl      and      the      Earthworms 

(0-6)     Sjtories    for    Kindergartens    and 

Primary  Schools 
Tom,  the  Water  Baby  (7-10)  . .  For  the  Children's  Hour 

Common  Sense 

Epaminondas    and    His    Auntie 

(7-10)    Stories  to  Tell  to  Children 

Concentration 
The   Little    Hero    of    Haarlem 

(8-10)    How  to  Tell  Stories 

What  the  Boy  Saw  (10-13)  . . .  .Moral  Instruction 

Conscientiousness  (See  Faithfulness,  Beginning  with  Small  Things, 
Loyalty) 


266  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Consecration 

Arthur  and  the  Sword  (6-9) . .  How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children 
How     Arthur     Became     King 

(9-12)    King  Arthur  and  His  Knights 

Quest  Flower  (10-13) Jewel's  Story  Book 

The  Sacred  Flame  (12-14) ...  .Christ  Legends  (Lagerlof) 
Search     for    the     Holy     Grail 

(12-15)    King  Arthur  and  His  Knights 

Considerateness  (See  Appreciation,  Gratitude,  Tact) 

Contentment 

Country  Mouse  and  the  Town 

Mouse  (0-6)    Fables  and  Folk  Stories 

Discontented  Weathercock 

(0-6)    Boston   Collection  of  Kindergar- 
ten Stories 

Fairy  Gifts  (0-6) Fairy  Life 

Tale    of    the    Littlest    Mouse 

(0-6)    For  the  Children's  Hour 

Fisherman  and  His  Wife  (6-8). Fairy  Stories  and  Fables 

Wonderful  Traveler  (6-8) Story  in  Primary  Instruction 

Galoshes  of  Fortune  (6-8) Wonder  Stories 

Discontented  Pendulum  (6-8) . .  Waste  Not,  Want  Not 
Discontented  Guinea  Hen  (6-8) .  Among  the  Farmyard  People 
Little  Rabbit  Who  Wanted  Red 

Wings   (6-8)    For  the  Story  Hour 

Golden  Windows  (7-10) Golden  Windows 

Princess  Orchid's  Party  (8-11). My  Days  with  the  Fairies 
Magic  Shirt  (9-12) Character  Building  Readers 

Co-operation  (See  also  Friendliness,  Loyalty) 
Hans  and  the  Four  Big  Giants 

(6-8)    Story  in  Primary  Instruction 

Courage 

Stoorworm  (6-8)   Fairy  Tales  from  Folk  Lore 

Limpetty  Jack  (7-10)   Land  of  Pluck 

The  Little  Princess  of  the  Fear- 
less Heart  (7-10)  Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

The  Boy  Who  Knew  No  Fear 

(10-12)  Stories  from  Life 

Eyes  of  the  Ring  (10-13) In  Story  Telling  Time 

Madam  Meynier    (10-13) Moral  Instruction 

Knight  with  the  Badly  Made 
Coat  ( 10-15)  King  Arthur  and  His  Knights 


APPENDIX  267 

Courtesy  (Manners) 

For  the  Little  Boy  Who  Will 

Not  Say  "Please"   (0-6) Stories  from  Plato 

Fairy  in  the  Mirror  (0-6) Boston   Collection   of   Kindergar- 
ten Stories 
A     Day     with     a     Courteous 

Mother    (10-13)    Course  in  Citizenship 

Two  on  a  Street  Car  (12-15) .  .Broadening  Path 

Dependableness  (Responsibility) 

Geirald  the  Coward  (10-13) ..  .Golden  Rule  Series 

Determination  (See  also  Perseverance) 
How  the  Princess  Was  Beaten 

in  a  Race  (6-8) Book  of  Legends 

Little     Claus    and    Big    Claus 

(8-10)    Wonder  Stories 

Andrew  Jackson,  the  Boy  Who 
"Never      Would      Give      Up" 

(9-12)    Stories  from  Life 

Vitai  Lampada  (12-15)   Henry  Newbolt 

Columbus   ( 12-15 )    Joaquin  Miller 

Efficiency    (Skill) 

Giant   Energy  and   Fairy    Skill 

(6-8)    Mother  Stories 

Two  Ways  (6-8) Golden  Windows 

Can  and  Could  (8-11) Golden  Rule  Series 

Energy  (See  also  Courage,  Determination) 

"Westward  Ho"    (12-15) Stories  from  Life 

Faith 

Lesson  of  Faith  (0-6) Boston   Collection  of  Kindergar- 
ten Stories 

Faithfulness  (See  Fidelity) 
Dora    the    Little    Girl    of    the 

Lighthouse  (0-6)   Boston   Collection  of   Kindergar- 
ten Stories 

Firefly  (0-6)    Stories  of  Humble  Friends 

Dog  Gellert  (6-8) Book  of  Legends 

Ivanoushka,   the   Simpleton 

(6-8)    Folk  Tales  from  the  Russian 

Prince  of  Naples  (6-8) Fairy  Tales  from  Folk  Lore 

Beauty  and  the  Beast  (6-8) . . .  Fables  and  Folk  Stories 
The   Little   Girl   in   the  Light- 
house (7-10)    Stories  for  Little  Listeners 


268  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Faithfulness  (See  Fidelity)— Continued 
The     Enchantment     of      Tara 

( 10-13)    Heroes  of  the  Dawn 

In  the  Snow  (10-13) In  the  Heart  of  the  Forest 

The  Lanthorn  Bearer   (12-15). The  Inn  of  Tranquillity 

Fidelity  (See  also  Faithfulness) 
Sir  Lancelot  and   His   Friends 

(9-12)    King  Arthur  and  His  Knights 

Death  of  Roland   (9-12) The  Song  of  Roland 

Adventure    of    King    Pellenore 

(9-12)    King  Arthur  and  His  Knights 

Forgetfulness  (Carelessness:    See  also  Carefulness) 
The  Kitten  that  Forgot  How  to 

Mew  (0-6)   Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

The  Fairy  Who  Came  to  Our 

House   (7-10) In  the  Story  Hour 

Orpheus  and  Eurydice  (7-10)  .  .Golden  Rule  Series 

Forgiveness 

Forgive  and  Forget   (7-10) ....  Golden  Rule  Series 
A     Great    Repentance    and     a 
Great   Forgiveness    (10-13)  .  .Golden  Rule  Series 

Fortitude  (See  also  Courage,  Faith,  Heroism) 
Adrift  on  an  Ice-Pan  (12-15) .  .Adrift  on  an  Ice-Pan 

Friendliness  (Kindliness) 
Wolves,     the     Dogs     and     the 

Sheep  (0-6)   Fairy  Stories  and  Fables 

Good  and  Bad  Apples  (6-8) . . .  Stories  from  My  Attic 

Pietro  da  Cortona  (7-11) Golden  Rule  Series 

The    Snappy    Snapping    Turtle 

(7-11)    Golden  Rule  Series 

The    Fairy    Who    Judges    His 

Neighbors  (7-11)  Golden  Rule  Series 

Friendship  (See  also  Friendliness,  Appreciation,  Sympathy) 
Drakesbill     and     His     Friends 

(6-8)     Fairy  Stories  and  Fables 

Generosity   (See  also  Charity) 
Peter    and    the    Magic    Goose 

(0-6)    Fairy  Stories  and  Fables 

Maud     Granger's     New    Dress 

(6-8)    Bed-time  Stories 


APPENDIX  269 

Generosity  (See  also  Charity) — Continued 

The    Wooden    Shoes    of    Little 
Wolff  (6-8)    Good  Stories  for  Great  Holidays 

The  Violet  in  the  Valley  (7- 10)  .  Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

The  Happy  Prince  (7-10) Happy  Prince 

The  Wheat  Field  (7-10) Golden  Windows 

Margaret      of      New      Orleans 

(10-13)    Stories  to  Tell  to  Children 

Queen  Louise  (10-13).. Golden  Rule  Series 

Genuineness  (See  also  Truth) 

Little  Girl  with  the  Light  (0-6)  .  Mother  Stories 

Little  Blessed  Eyes  (0-6) In  Story-land 

Search  for  a  Good  Child  (6-8) .  Mother  Stories 

White  Dove  (6-8) More  Mother  Stories 

Knights    and    the    Good    Child 

(7-10)     True  Fairy  Stories 

Goodness  that  Is  Within  (7-10)  .  Stories  from  Plato 
Good  Temper 

Fairy  in  the  Mirror  (0-6) Boston   Collection  of   Kindergar- 
ten Stories 

King  and  His  Hawk  (6-8) Fifty  Famous  Stories  Retold 

The  Goddess  of  Light  (6-8) . . .  Fairy  Tales  from  Folk  Lore 

King    Lion   and   the   Sly  Little 
Jackals    (7-10) Moral  Education 

The  Snapdragon  (10)    Golden  Rule  Series 

Gratitude    (See  also  Appreciation) 

Great  Surprise  (0-6) For  the  Children's  Hour 

How  Patty  Gave  Thanks  (0-6) .  In  the  Child's  World 

Ant  and  the  Dove   (0-6) Boston  Collection  of    Kindergar- 
ten Stories 

Faithful  John   (0-6)    German  Household  Tales 

Lion  and  the  Mouse   (0-6) Boston  Collection  of   Kindergar- 
ten Stories 

Wiltse   (0-6)    Kindergarten   Stories  and  Morn- 
ing Talks 

Our  Daily  Bread  (0-6) Kindergarten   Stories  and  Morn- 
ing Talks 

First  Thanksgiving  Day  (6-8)  . .  Story  Hour 

Janie  Leech's  Angel  (6-8) Bed-time  Stories 

Story  of  the  First  Corn  (6-8)  .  For  the  Children's  Hour 

The  Candles  (7-10) Andersen's  Fairy  Tales 

Gifts  of  the  Altars  (9-12) Old  Greek  Stories 

How  It  Happened   (10-13) After  Long  Years 

Cyrus  and  the  Armenian  King 

(12-15)    Broadening  Path 


270  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

X 

Greed 

Rumpelstilzkin   (0-6)    For  the  Children's  Hour 

The    Jackal    and    the     Spring 

(0-6)    Golden  Rule  Series 

The  Gingerbread  Man  (0-6)  . . .  Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

Greedy  Shepherd  (6-8) Wonderful  Chair 

Fisherman  and  His  Wife  (6-8)  .  Children's  Book 

Fulfilled  (6-10)   How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children 

Sir  Cleges  and  His  Gift  (7-10) .  Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 
The  Greedy  Antelope  (7-10) ..  .Golden  Rule  Series 
The  Sunken  City  (10-13) The  Sunken  City 

Helpfulness  (See  also  Service,  Kindliness,  Sympathy) 

Sweet  Rice  Porridge  (6-8) The  Story  in  Primary  Instruction 

St.  Rigobert's  Dinner  (6-8) Book     of     Saints     and     Friendly 

Beasts 

Heroism  (See  also  Self -Sacrifice,  Courage) 
The     Heroine     of     Vercheres 

(10-15)    Broadening  Path 

The  Legend  of  Bregenz  (10-15)     Broadening  Path 
Battle  of  the  Rafts   (10-15) ..  .Boyhood  in  Norway 
French  Soldier  Boy  (10-15) ..  .Round-about  Rambles 

Hero  Worship 

The  Red  Thread  (12-15) Broadening  Path 

The  Heart  of  the  Bruce(12-15). Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

Honor  (Honesty) 

Under  the  Oak  Tree  (7- 10)... In  the  Heart  of  the  Forest 

Joan  of  Arc  (10-13) Ethics  for  Children 

The  Man  Who  Refused  a  Bribe 

(12-15)    Boys'  and   Girls'   Bookshelf 

Regulus  ( 12-15)    Charlotte  M.  Yonge 

Hospitality 

Three  Wishes  (6-8) Pied  Piper 

Wonderful  Traveler  (6-8) Story  in  Primary  Instruction 

Baucis  and  Philemon  (10-13) ..  Broadening  Path 

Humility   (Modesty) 

Milkmaid  and  Her  Pail  (0-6) .  Fairy  Stories  and  Fables 

Bragging  Peacocks  (0-6)    Among  the  Farmyard  People 

Little  Brown  Bowl  (0-6) For  the  Children's  Hour 


APPENDIX  271 

Humility  (Modesty)— Continued 

False  Collar  (6-8)   Wonder  Stories 

Frog  and  the  Ox  (6-8) How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children 

Girl    Who    Trod    Upon    Bread 

(6-8)    Wonder  Stories 

Proud  King  (6-8) Book  of  Legends 

Red  Shoes   (6-8) Wonder  Stories 

The  Star  Child  (7-10) The  Happy  Prince 

Emperor's  New  Clothes  (8-10) .  Wonder  Stories 

Shet-Up  Posy  (10-15) Story-Tell  Lib 

King  Robert  of  Sicily  (10-12)  . .  Longfellow 
Captain  Scott   (12-15) Golden  Rule  Series 

Independence 

The  Old  Man  and  His  Donkey 
(12-15)   Broadening  Path 

Industry   (Laziness,  Work) 

Georgie-Lie-a-Bed  (0-6)   Careless  Jane 

Charlotte  and  the  Ten  Dwarfs 

(0-6)    Kindergarten  Stories  and  Morn  • 

ing  Talks 

Giant    Sloth    and    the    Tiddly- 
Winks   (0-6)    Cat-Tails 

Little    Girl    Who    Would    Not 

Work  (0-6)   For  the  Children's  Hour 

Little  Red  Hen  (0-6) For  the  Children's  Hour 

Beaver  Story  (0-6) True  Fairy  Stories 

Little  Servants   (0-6) In  the  Child's  World 

Mother  Frost    (6-8) Story  in  Primary  Instruction 

Sailor  Man    (6-8) Golden  Windows 

Wondering  Tom   (6-8) Land  of  Pluck 

Tony    and    Teddy    Looked    for 

Fairies  (7-10)    My  Days  with  the  Fairies 

The   Snail  and  the   Rose  Tree 

(7-10)     Golden  Rule  Series 

Dust  Under  the  Rug  (7-10) ...  Mother  Stories 

Silence  (10-13)   Folk  Tales  from  Many  Lands 

Little   Daffydowndilly   (13) ...  .Golden  Rule  Series 
For  Him  Who  Lifts  the  Stone 

(12-15)    Broadening  Path 

Initiative  (See  also  Determination) 
The  Little  Red  Hen  (0-6) Child  Classics  No.  1 


272  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Kindliness  (Mercy:    See  also  Sympathy,  Friendliness,  Service) 
Mother     Magpie's     Mischief 

(0-6)    Queer  Little  People 

Elder-Tree  Mother  (0-6) True  Fairy  Stories 

St.  John's  Eve   (6-8) Fairy  Tales  from  Folk  Lore 

House  in  the  Wood  (6-8) For  the  Children's  Hour 

How   Coronis   Became  a  Crow 

(6-8)    Stories  from  Plato 

Eavesdropper,  the  Ugly  Dwarf 

(6-8)    For  the  Children's  Hour 

The  Gif tie  (6-8) Golden  Windows 

Lady  Greensleeves   (6-8) Wonderful  Chair 

Mrs.  Chinchilla  (6-8) Story  Hour 

Cosette  (7-10)  For  the  Children's  Hour 

Two  Kinds  of  Fun   (7-10) Character  Building  Readers 

Why     Violets     Have     Golden 

Hearts  (7-10)    Golden  Rule  Series 

Paulina's  Christmas   (10-13)  ...  Story-Telling 
King     of     the     Golden     River 

(12-15)    Ruskin 

John  Stuart  Blackie  (14-17)  ..  .Broadening  Path 

Kindness  to  Animals 

Barry  (0-6)    Stories  of  Humble  Friends 

Fido's  Little  Friend  (0-6) Little  Book  of  Profitable  Tales 

Hans  and  His  Dog  (0-6) More  Mother  Stories 

Snow    White    and    Rose    Red 

(6-8)    Story  in   Primary   Instruction 

St.    Gerasimus    and    the    Lion 

(6-8)     Book     of     Saints     and     Friendly 

Beasts 
St.  Cuthbert's  Peace   (6-8) Book    of     Saints    and     Friendly 

Beasts 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi  (6-8) Book    of     Saints     and    Friendly 

Beasts 

The  Queen  Bee  (7-10) Grimm's  Fairy  Tales 

The  Yellow  Jar  (7-10) Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

Simpleton  (7-10)    Character  Building  Readers 

Love 

House  of  Love  (0-6) Golden  Windows 

Light  in  the  Window  (0-6) Bed-time  Stories 

Little  Mother   (0-6) Bed-time  Stories 

Kate  Crackernuts  (6-8) English  Fairy  Tales 

Picciola  (6-8) Fifty  Famous  Stories  Retold 


APPENDIX  273 

Love —  Continued 

Robin    of    the    Loving    Heart 

(6-8)    Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

Coals  of  Fire  (6-9) Bed-time  Stories 

Paying  Off  Jane   (7-10) Bed-time  Stories 

Ragged   Robin    (7-10) Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

About  Angels   (7-10) Golden  Windows 

The  Apron  String  (10-12) Golden  Windows 

The  Golden  Spears  (10-12)  ...  .The  Golden  Spears 

The  Story  of  the  Jipi  (12-15) .  .Self  Culture  for  Young  People 

Loyalty  (See  also  Co-operation,  Faithfulness,  Fidelity) 
How     the     Home    Was     Built 

(6-8)    For  the  Children's  Hour 

Sir  Thomas  Moore  (10)   Golden  Rule  Series 

Tarlton  (10)   Golden  Rule  Series 

Modesty  (See  also  Humility,  Purity) 

Obedience 

Fairy  Shoes  (0-6) Kindergarten  Story  Book 

John's  Nap  (0-6) Dream  Children 

Child  Who  Would  Not  Go  to 

Bed  (0-6)   Careless  Jane 

Wee    Hare   and   the   Red   Fire 

(0-6)    Story  in  Character  Building 

Little   Bat   Who   Wouldn't   Go 

to  Bed  (0-6) Among  the  Forest  People 

Raggylug  (0-6) Wild  Animals  I  Have  Known 

Old  Mother  Webtoes  (6-8) Careless  Jane 

The  Seven  Little  Goats  (6-8) . .  Story  in  Primary  Instruction 
Little    Pink    Pig    and    the    Big 

Road    (6-8)    Boys'  and  Girls'   Bookshelf 

Search  for  a  Good  Child  (7-10). Mother  Stories 

Who  Loved  Best  (7-10) My  Picture  Poetry   Book 

So-So    (7-10)    Golden  Rule  Series 

Jimmy  and  the  Sharper  (10-13). Broadening  Path 
The    Matsuyama    Mirror    (12- 

15) Character  Building  Readers 

Opportunity 
The    Hour    that    Maisie    Lost 

(7-10)     My  Days  with  the  Fairies 

The  Loving  Cup  Made  of  Iron 

(10-11)     Golden  Rule  Series 

The  Day  (10-13)   Golden  Windows 


274  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Order  (See  Cleanliness) 

Patience  (With  Self  and  Others) 

Wait  and  See  (0-6) In  the  Child's  World 

Little  Rooster  (0-6) Boston   Collection  of  Kindergar- 
ten Stories 

Diffent  Kind  o'  Bundles  (7-10). Story-Tell  Lib 
Little  Lame  Prince   (8-10) ...  .Little  Lame  Prince 
The   Artist's    Masterpiece    (10- 

13)    After  Long  Years 

Patriotism  (See  also  Loyalty,  Heroism,  Courage) 
The      Patriotism     of     Senator 
Foelker  (10-13)    Ethics  for  Children 

Penitence 
The  Broken  Flower  Pot  (7-10)  Ethics  for  Children 

Perseverance  (See  also  Determination,  Energy) 
Grasshopper  and  the  Measuring 

Worm  Run  a  Race  (6-8) Among  the  Meadow  People 

Bernard   of   the   Tuileries    (7- 

10)    Stories  from  Life 

The  Mouse's  Tail  (7-10) Character  Building  Readers 

Cow  His  Capital  (10-12) Stories  from  Life 

Perseverance  (10-13)   Course  in  Citizenship 

The  Two  Travelers   (10-13) ..  .Ethics  for  Children 
Inspiration   of    Gambetta    (12- 

15)    Stories  from  Life 

Samuel  Gridley  Howe  (12-15)  .Course  in  Citizenship 
Tribune  of  the  People  (12-15)  .Stories  from  Life 
Boy  Who  Said  "I  Must"   (12- 

15) Stories  from  Life 

Pluck 

Jones  and  Sausage  (10-13) Course  in  Citizenship 

The     Boy  from    the     Bottom 

(12-15)  Broadening  Path 

Promptness 

Little  Ten  Minutes   (7-13) Broadening  Path 

Purity 

Closing  Door   (8-10) Mother  Stories 

Box  of  Dreams  (10-13) My  Days  with  the  Fairies 

Search  for  the  Holy  Grail  (12- 

14)    King  Arthur  and  His  Knights 

Judgment  Seat  of  Vikramaditya 

(12-15)     Story-Telling 


APPENDIX  275 

Quarreling 

Quarrel   (0-6)    Fairy  Stories  and  Fables 

Wolf  and  the  Lamb  (0-6) Fairy  Stories  and  Fables 

Why     the     Quarrelsome     Men 

Were    Locked    Out    of    the 

Bird  City   (6-8) Stories  from  Plato 

Self-Control  (and  Temperance) 
Willie    Fox    and   the   Glass    of 

Wine   (7-9)    The  House  I  Live  In 

Prince  Cherry  (7-10) Stories  to  Tell  to  Children 

The    Ring    and     the    Courtier 

(10-13) Moral  Instruction 

St.    George    and    the     Dragon 

(10-13)    Golden  Rule  Series 

The  Faithful  Nurse  (12-15).  ..Moral  Instruction 

Self-Forgetfulness 
The  Holy  Shadow   (10-13)  ...  .Moral  Instruction 

Self-Reliance 

Apron-String    (6-8)    Golden  Windows 

Lark    and    Her    Young    Ones 

(6-8)    Boston   Collection  of   Kindergar- 
ten Stories 
The  Black  Prince  (10) Golden  Rule  Series 

Self -Sacrifice   (Magnanimity) 

Sacrifice   (7-10)    Seven  Little  People 

Story  of  Long  Ago  (10) Golden  Rule  Series 

Father  Damien  (10-13) The  Red  True  Story  Book 

Story  of  General  Gordon    (10- 

13)     Ethics  for  Children 

Race  with  the  Wolves  (10-13)  .Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

Forty  Wrestlers  (12-15) The  Christian  Race 

Soldiers  in  the  Snow Broadening  Path 

Service  (See  also  Helpfulness) 
Legend    of    the    Great    Dipper 

(0-6)     Kindergarten   Stories  and  Morn- 
ing Talks 
Little  Beta  and  the  Lame  Giant 

(0-6) In  Story-Land 

Little  Gray  Grandmother  (0-6). In  Story-Land 
Loving  Cup  (0-6) In  Story-Land 


276  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Service  (See  also  Helpfulness)— Continued 
Elves      and      the      Shoemaker 

(0-6)    For  the  Children's  Hour 

Old     Pipes     and     the     Dryad 

(6_8)    Fanciful  Tales 

The  Pea  Blossom  (6-8) Golden  Rule  Series 

Fair  White  City  (6-8) In  Story-Land 

Iddly    Bung's    April    Christmas 

Tree  (6-8)    Stories     for    Kindergartens     and 

Primary   Schools 

Arthur  and  the  Sword  (10-12)  .How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children 
Where  Love  Is,  God  Is  (10-13)  .  Ethics  for  Children 
The  Great  Feast  (10-13) Golden  Windows 

Shrewdness 

Barmecide  Feast   (6-8) Fifty  Famous  Stories  Retold 

King    John     and     the     Abbott 

(6-8)    Fifty  Famous  Stories  Retold 

The  Clever  Geese  (7-10) Stories  and  Story-Telling 

Little  Hero  of  Lucerne (10- 13)  .Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 
Wisest    Maid    in   Wessex    (12- 
15)    Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

Sympathy 

What  the  Snow-Man  Did  (6-8). Land  of  Pluck 

"Go"   and  "Come"    (6-8) Golden  Windows 

Coming  of  the  King  (7-10) Character  Building  Readers 

Trott  Goes  Driving   (7-10) A  Course  in  Citizenship 

Robin  Redbreast   (10-13) Boys'  and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

Tact  (See  Kindliness,  Sympathy) 

Thoroughness  (Doing  One's  Best:    See  also  Faithfulness) 
How  to  Build  a  Nest  (7-10) . . .  Boys'   and  Girls'  Bookshelf 

Thrift 

Brides  on  Their  Trial  (6-8) ...  German  Household  Tales 
The  Waste  Collector  (10) Golden  Rule  Series 

Trust 

Stairs  (6-8) Golden  Windows 

Golden  Pears  (7-10) Stories  and  Story-Telling 

Forest    of    Wild    Thyme     (10- 

13)     Alfred  Noyes 

Flower  of  Old  Japan  (10-13) .  .Alfred  Noyes 


APPENDIX  277 

Truthfulness  (Sincerity) 

'  Honest  Woodman  (0-6) Boston   Collection  of   Kindergar- 
ten Stories 

Fair  Melusina  (0-6) Book  of  Legends 

Dove    Who    Spoke    Truth    (7- 

10)     Good  Stories  for  Great  Holidays 

Lady  Clare  (12-15) Lord  Tennyson 

Unselfishness  (Self-denial) 

Benjie   (0-6)    Bed-time  Stories 

How  Odin  Lost  His  Eye  (6-8) .  In  the  Days  of  Giants 
Dicky  Smiley's  Birthday  (6-8)  .  Story  Hour 
Line  of  Golden  Light  (6-8) ...  In  Story-Land 
Sad   Story  of   Hog   Caterpillar 

(6-8)    Dooryard  Stories 

Selfish  Tent-Caterpillar  (6-8) . .  Among  the  Meadow  People 
Thirteen    Jeweled    Letters     (7- 

10)    Course  in  Citizenship 

Why  the  Chimes  Rang  (7-10).  .Why  the  Chimes  Rang 
Legend  of  the  Woodpecker  (7- 

10)    For  the  Children's  Hour 

Selfish  Giant  (7-10)    For  the  Story-Teller 

Sir  Philip  Sidney  ( 10-12) Fifty  Famous  Stories  Retold 

Coming  of  the  King  (10-13).  ..Golden  Windows 
The  Ugly  Trinket  (10-13) After  Long  Years 

Usefulness  (Helpfulness) 

Johnny  Appleseed  (6-8)    In  Story  Land 

The  Brownies  (7-10) Golden  Rule  Series 

Story  of  Pomiuk  (10-13) Broadening  Path 

Hidden  Servants   (12-15) Stories  to  Tell  to  Children 

Apple-Seed  John  (12-15) For  the  Children's  Hour 


278 


MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


VI 


A   LIST   OF   BIBLE   STORIES   AND    OF   BIBLE 
STORY-BOOKS 

To  ACCOMPANY  CHAPTER  XII 
A   LIST   OF   BIBLE   STORIES 


This  list  is  somewhat  suggestive  because  it  arranges  one  hun- 
dred of  the  best  Bible  stories  under  the  virtues  which  they  illustrate. 
The  story-teller  will  find  these  and  other  Bible  stories  which  will 
readily  occur  to  him  helpful  as  supplementing  the  list  of  stories 
for  character  building  from  secular  sources  given  in  the  preceding 
appendix. 


Brother  Love 
Esau  and  Jacob 
Joseph  and  His  Brethren 

Chivalry 

Moses  and  the  Midianite  Girls 
Jesse  and  Ruth 

Courage 

Moses  and  Pharaoh 
Caleb 

Nathan  and  David 
Jonathan     and     His     Armor 

Bearer 

David  and  Goliath 
Elijah  and  Jezebel 
Jesus  in  the  Storm 
Jesus  and  His  Enemies 
Jesus  Cleansing  the  Temple 
Peter  in  Prison 
Paul  at  Ephesus 
Paul  in  the  Storm 

Envy 
Shimei 
Sanballat 


Faithfulness 
Joseph 

Father  Love 
Jacob  and  Joseph 
David  and  Absalom 
The   Father  of  the  Prodigal 
Son 

Filial  Love 
Japhet  and  Noah 
Esau  and  Jacob 
Ruth  and  Naomi 

Forgiveness 
Esau  and  Jacob 
The   Father  of   the   Prodigal 

Son 
Onesimus  and  Philemon 

Fortitude 

Daniel  in  the  Lion's  Den 
The  Three  Hebrew  Children 
The  Maccabees 
The  Homeless  Jesus 
The  Wanderings  of  Paul 


APPENDIX 


279 


Friendship 

David  and  Jonathan 

Jesus    and    the    Daughter   of 

Jairus 

John  and  Jesus 
Jesus  and  the  Twelve 
The  Farewells  of  Paul 

Generosity 
Abraham  and  Lot 
Abraham    and    the    Kings    of 


of  the 

David  and  Mephibosheth 
Jesus'  Feast  by  the  Lake 

Gratitude 
The  Grateful  Leper 

Greed  (Avarice) 

The    Wedge  of    Gold    (Josh. 

7  and  8) 
Ananias  and  Sapphira 

Heroism 

David  and  Goliath 

David's  Mighty  Men  (1  Chron. 

11,  12,  16  and  38) 
Daniel  in  the  Lion's  Den 
Esther 
Stephen 

Hospitality 

Abraham  and  the  Angels 
Rebekah  and  Abraham's  Serv- 
ant 

Abigail  and  David 
The  Widow  and  Elisha 
Mary  Anointing  Jesus 

Industry 

The  Great  Ship    (The  Ark) 
Nehemiah   and  the  Re-build- 
ing of  Jerusalem 


Jealousy 

Cain  and  Abel 

Kindness 

Rahab  and  the  Scarlet  Cord 

Elisha 

The  Little  Captive  Maid 

Christ  Blessing  the  Children 

The  Good  Samaritan 

Parable  of  the  Lost  Sheep 

Dorcas 


Wife 


Isaac  and  Rebekah 
Ruth 


Magnanimity  (Unselfishness) 
Jonathan  and  David 
David  and  Saul 
John  the  Baptist 
Jesus  and  Peter 
Mary  of  Bethany 

Mother  Love 

The  Mother  of  Moses 

Hagar 

Hannah  and  Samuel 

Mary  and  Jesus 

Neighborliness 
The  Good  Samaritan 
The  Friend  at  Midnight 

Obedience 
The  First  Garden 
Abram's  Call 
Gathering  Manna 
Gideon's  Soldiers 
The  Young  Saul 
Jonah 

Patience 

Noah  and  the  Flood 

The  Patience  of  Moses  with 

the  Israelites 
The  Death  of  Moses 


280  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Patriotism  Reverence 

Moses  Abraham  and  the  Angels 

Joshua  Uzziah 

Deborah  Josiah 

D^d  The   Message   that    Came   to 

Jehu  and  Jezebel  Job 

Isaiah 

Jeremiah 

Judith  Sister  Love 

Mordecai  Miriam  and  the  Child  Moses 

The  Maccabees 

Penitence  Superstition 

Jacob  Micah      and      His      Mother 

Zaccheus  (Judges  17) 

A    LIST    OF   BIBLE    STORY-BOOKS 

FIRST  STEPS  FOR  LITTLE  FEET  IN  GOSPEL  PATHS,  by  Charles  Foster, 
published  by  the  Charles  Foster  Publishing  Co.,  Philadelphia. 

We  can  think  of  no  other  book  so  successful  in  simplicity  and 
sweetness  of  language  as  this  book  for  telling  little  children  the 
story  of  Jesus.  There  are  one  hundred  stones  with  simple  line 
drawings,  and  each  story  concludes  with  a  few  easy  questions  for 
review. 

KINDERGARTEN  BIBLE  STORIES  :  OLD  TESTAMENT,  by  Ella  Cragin,  pub- 
lished by  the  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  New  York. 

The  title  of  this  book  indicates  the  grade  for  which  it  is 
intended  rather  than  that  it  is  especially  for  kindergarten  use. 
There  are  fifty-six  short  chapters,  in  very  simple  language,  in 
which  the  intent  is  to  bring  out  those  features  in  the  life  and 
actions  of  men  and  women  of  the  Bible  that  will  be  of  deepest 
interest  to  little  children.  The  illustrations  are  mostly  from 
drawings  of  Dore. 

THE  STORY  OF  JESUS  FOR  LITTLE  PEOPLE,  by  Edgar  Leigh  Pell,  pub- 
lished by  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  New  York. 

A  very  good  small  book,  in  simple  language,  for  the  youngest 
listeners. 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  BIBLE  FROM  GENESIS  TO  REVELATION,  TOLD  IN 
SIMPLE  LANGUAGE,  by  Charles  Foster,  published  by  the  Charles 
Foster  Publishing  Co.,  Philadelphia. 

This  book  is  now  forty  years  old.  It  has  had  a  circulation 
of  800,000  copies  and  still  it  maintains  a  deservedly  high  place 
among  story  Bibles.  Mr.  Foster  must  have  been  a  very  childlike 
man  who  loved  children  and  this  book  has  been  enjoyed  both  by 


APPENDIX  281 

little  ones  and  by  those  who  are  old  enough  to  read.    It  has  300 
rather  quaint  illustrations. 

A  BOOK  OF  THE  CHRIST  CHILD,  by  Eleanor  Hammond  Broadus,  pub- 
lished by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York 

A  group  of  legends  of  the  Christ  Child  from  many  sources, 
interwoven  with  ancient  verses  and  illustrations  from  the  masters. 
The  stories  are  beautifully  told  and,  while  not  collected  for  the 
purpose  of  religious  instruction,  they  are  full  of  spiritual  sym- 
bolism which  little  children  can  deeply  feel  even  if  they  cannot 
understand. 

THE  CASTLE  OF  ZION,  by  George  Hodges,  published  by  Houghton 
Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

This  is  a  collection  of  the  best  Old  Testament  stories  told 
with  the  same  simplicity  and  vigor  as  the  New  Testament  stories 
by  the  same  author  in  the  book  entitled  "When  the  King  Came." 
This  collection  will  be  of  especial  interest  to  young  children  who 
are  for  the  first  time  reading  and  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
great  Bible  stories. 

CHILD'S  CHRIST  TALES,  by  Andrea  Hofer  Proudfoot,  published  by 
A.  Flanagan  Co.,  Chicago. 

This  little  book  contains  a  collection  of  pretty  stories   and 
poems  about   religious   subjects    suitable   for  children,   and  it  is 
illustrated  with  copies  of  famous  paintings  of  the  Christ  Child. 
THE  CHRIST  STORY,  by  Eva  May  Tappan,  published  by  Houghton, 
Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

The  retelling  of  the  Christ  story  is  very  beautiful.  The  nar- 
rative is  natural,  and  the  author  tells  the  story  of  Jesus  as  she 
would  tell  it  of  any  great  man,  and  lets  the  Christ  life  make  its 
own  high  appeal.  The  setting  as  to  customs,  environment,  char- 
acters is  vivid  and  picturesque.  The  book  is  well  adapted  to  boys 
and  girls  12  to  14,  especially  in  the  story-telling,  because  it  gives 
the  rich  background  without  really  touching  the  original  beauty 
of  the  Bible  story  of  the  Christ. 

AN  OLD,  OLD  STORY  BOOK,  by  Eva  May  Tappan,  published  by  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

This  book  is  not  an  attempt  to  bring  down  the  Scriptures  to 
children.  It  is  simply  a  collection  of  Old  Testament  stories, 
given  in  the  words  of  the  Bible,  but  arranged  like  other  books  in 
paragraphs  rather  than  in  verses.  It  is  the  Bible  story  in  its 
original  setting  with  the  wise  elimination  of  the  parts  not  suited 
to  the  interest  or  welfare  of  young  people.  It  is  the  best 
possible  sort  of  an  adaptation  which  can  be  made  for  Bible 
stories. 

SAINTS  AND  HEROES,  by  George  Hodges,  published  by  Henry  Holt  & 
Co.,  New  York. 


282  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

STORIES  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  FOR  CHILDREN,  by  H.  S.  B.  Beale, 
published  by  Duffield  &  Co.,  New  York. 

This  is  a  strong  and  simple  narrative  of  the  Bible,  using  very 
largely  the  Bible  language.  It  is  profusely  illustrated  with  colored 
pictures. 

TELL  ME  A  TRUE  STORY,  by  Mary  Stewart,  published  by  Fleming  H. 
Revell  Co.,  New  York. 

Bible  stories  for  the  children  told  by  a  gifted  story-teller. 
Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke  says:  'This  little  book  does  a  useful  and 
much  needed  thing  in  a  simple  and  beautiful  way.  It  is  written 
for  children  by  one  who  understands  and  loves  them.  It  brings 
the  spirit  and  meaning  of  Christianity  down,  or  I  should  rather 
say  up,  to  their  level.  It  is  not  only  plain  in  its  language,  but 
clear  and  natural  in  its  thought  and  feeling." 

WHEN  THE  KING  CAME,  by  George  Hodges,  published  by  Houghton, 
Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

On  account  of  its  simple,  picturesque  style,  its  pure  and  beau- 
tiful English,  and  its  reverent  attitude,  this  story  of  the  life  of 
Jesus  for  young  people  is  to  be  most  highly  commended.  The 
author's  endeavor  is  to  follow  the  order  of  the  Gospel  harmony, 
and  to  approach  as  far  as  possible  the  Scripture  attitude  and 
language. 

BIBLE  STORIES  FOR  YOUNG  PEOPLE,  by  S.  E.  Dawes,  published  by  the 
Thomas  Y.  Crowell  Co.,  New  York. 

This  is  a  close  paraphrase  of  the  Bible  language,  but  is  per- 
fectly simple  and  understandable.  It  is  suitable  for  children  just 
a  little  older  than  those  who  would  enjoy  "First  Steps  for  Little 
Feet."  The  first  story  is  of  the  Flood  and  the  last  that  of  John 
the  Beloved  Disciple. 

OLD  STORIES  FROM  THE  EAST,  by  James  Baldwin,  published  by  the 
American  Book  Co.,  New  York. 

This  well  known  writer  of  boys'  stories  has  prepared  a  small 
collection  of  Old  Testament  stories  as  supplemental  reading  for 
boys  and  girls  from  eight  to  twelve  years  of  age.  The  style  is 
that  of  the  modern  story-teller.  The  names  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment characters  are  given  with  their  meanings,  such  as  Gazelle 
for  Jael,  Laughter  for  Isaac,  etc.  No  attempt  is  made  to  follow 
the  stately  language  of  the  King  James  version  but  rather  the 
contrary.  The  result  is  that  the  stories  have  unusual  strength 
and  vigor. 

THE  HEART  OF  THE  BIBLE,  edited  by  Ella  Broadus  Robertson,  pub- 
lished by  Thomas  Nelson  &  Co.,  New  York. 

An  arrangement  of  selections  from  the  American  Standard 
version  of  the  Bible.  The  endeavor  is  to  trace  the  "thread  of 
Providence  and  purpose"  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 


APPENDIX  283 

Scriptures.  Each  story  narrative  is  graphic,  the  poets  and 
prophets  are  grouped  about  great  sections  of  history,  the  epics  are 
presented  as  personal  and  vital  letters  and  the  effort  of  the  editor 
is  to  give  proper  perspective  to  the  whole.  The  type  is  large  and 
the  illustrations  are  in  color,  and  the  book  is  a  most  attractive 
one  to  encourage  a  child  to  really  read  and  master  the  contents 
of  the  Scriptures. 

BOYS   OF  THE  BIBLE,  by  Norma  Bright   Carson,   published  by  the 
Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  New  York. 

Short  chapters  of  about  1,000  words  each,  in  which  the  stories 
of  twenty-two  different  heroes  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
are  told  in  simple  language  for  children  in  the  first  two  or  three 
grades  of  school. 

THE  BIBLE  FOR  CHILDREN,  by  H.  Thiselton  Mark,  published  by  the 
Fleming  H.   Revell  Co.,  New  York. 

A  selection  of  Bible  stories  told  in  the  language  of  the  Bible 
itself,  such  as  children  up  to  ten  or  eleven  years  of  age  can 
readily  understand.  The  stories  are  chosen  so  as  to  give  a  gen- 
eral view  of  the  leading  incidents  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments. They  are  illustrated  by  a  few  photogravures  from  differ- 
ent artists. 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  BIBLE,  by  Jesse  L.  Hurlbut,  published  by  the  John 
C.  Winston  Co.,  Philadelphia. 

A  big  book  of  750  pages,  containing  nearly  200  stories  from 
the  Bible.  The  language  follows  quite  closely  that  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, but  it  is  considerably  simplified.  It  is  the  most  lavishly 
illustrated  Bible  story-book,  in  one  volume,  available.  The  pic- 
tures are  both  photogravures  and  in  colors.  The  book  is  not 
well  suited  to  too  little  children. 


284  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


VII 

A  LIST  OF  STORY-BOOKS  CONNECTED  WITH  SCHOOL 
SUBJECTS 

To  ACCOMPANY  CHAPTER  XIII 

NATURE    STUDY 

ALDIN,  "Field  Babies,"  George  H.  Doran  &  Co.,  Boston 3-6 

TRIMMER,  "History  of  the  Robin,"  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  New 

York  4-6 

BRYCE,  "That's  Why  Stories,"  Newson  &  Son,  New  York 4-6 

COOK,  "Nature  Myths,"  A.  Flanagan  Co.,  Chicago 4-6 

GRIEB,  "Glimpses  of  Nature  for  Little  Folks,"  D.  C  Heath 

&  Co.,  New  York 4-6 

STICKNEY,  "Pets  and  Companions" 5-6 

AIKEN  &  BARBAULD,  "Eyes  and  No  Eyes,"  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co., 

New  York  5-7 

WRIGHT,  "Seaside  and  Wayside,"  D.  C  Heath  &  Co.,  New 

York  5-7 

JORDAN,  "True  Tales  of  Birds  and  Beasts,"  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co., 

New  York  6-9 

DUGDALE,  "Book  of  Baby  Beasts,"  George  H.  Doran  &  Co., 

Boston  6-9 

SAUNDERS,  "Beautiful  Joe,"  Griffith  &  Rowland,  New  York..  6-9 
BROWN,  "Book  of  Curious  Birds,"  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Bos- 
ton    6-9 

HOLBROOK,  "Book  of  Nature  Myths,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co., 

Boston  6-9 

FARMER,  "Nature  Myths  of  Many  Lands,"  American  Book  Co., 

New  York  6-9 

MARKS  &  MOODY,  "Little  Busybodies,"  Harper  &  Bros.,  New 

York  6-9 

GRINNELL,  "Our  Feathered  Friends,"  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co, 

New  York  6-9 

SEWELL,  "Black  Beauty,"  Geo.  W.  Jacobs  &  Co.,  Philadelphia. .  6-9 
CARTER,  "Stories  of  Brave  Dogs,"  Century  Co.,  New  York. .  6-9 
BURN  HAM,  "Descriptive  Stories  for  All  the  Year,"  Milton 

Bradley  Co.,  Springfield  6-9 

ALLEN,  "Stories  for  Wakeland  and  Dreamland,"  Milton  Brad- 
ley Co.,  Springfield  6-9 


APPENDIX  285 

STAFFORD,  "Animal  Fables,"  American  Book  Co.,  New  York..  7-8 
ABBOTT,  "A  Boy  on  a  Farm,"  American  Book  Co.,  New  York. .  7-8 
SETON,  "Lobo,  Rag  and  Vixen,"  Chas.  Scribner's  Sons,  New 

York  7-9 

ANDREWS,  "Stories  Mother  Nature  Told  Her  Children,"  Ginn 

&  Co.,  Boston  '. .  7-9 

MILLER,  "True  Bird  Stories,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston..  7-9 
PYLE,  "Stories  of  Humble  Friends,"  American  Book  Co.,  New 

York  7-9 

HARDY,  "The  Little  King  and  the  Princess  True,"  Rand,  Mc- 

Nally  &  Co.,  Chicago 7-10 

BRADISH,  "Stories  of  Country  Life,"  American  Book  Co.,  New 

York 8-9 

BINGHAM,  "Merry  Animal  Tales,"  Little  Brown  &  Co.,  Boston  8-9 
BOURKE,  "Fables  in  Feathers,"  Thomas  Y.  Crowell  Co.,  New 

York  8-9 

LANG,  "Animal  Story  Book,"  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  New 

York  8-10 

LONG,  "Ways  of  the  Wood  Folk,"  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston 9-12 

PORTER,  "Stars  in  Song  and  Legend,"  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston....  9-12 
STONE  &  FICKETT,  "Trees  in  Prose  and  Poetry,"  Ginn  &  Co., 

Boston  9-12 

PIERSON,  "Among  the  Night  People,"  "Among  the  Forest  Peo- 
ple," "Among  the  Meadow  People/'  "Among  the  Bird  Peo- 
ple," E.  P.  Button  &  Co.,  New  York 9-12 

BURROUGHS,  "Bird  Stories  from  Burroughs,"  Houghton,  Mifflin 

Co.,  Boston  9-12 

SCUDDER,  "Frail  Children  of  the  Air,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co., 

Boston  9-12 

FUERTES,  "True  Bird  Stories  from  My  Notebook,"  Houghton 

Mifflin  Co.,  Boston 9-12 

ENDIGN,  "Lady  Lee  and  Other  Animal  Stories,"  American  Book 

Co.,  New  York  9-12 

HOLDEN,  "Stories  of  Animal  Life,"  American  Book  Co.,  New 

York  9-12 

KELLY,  "Short  Stories  of  Our  Shy  Neighbors,"  American  Book 

Co.,  New  York  W-11 

BALDWIN,  "Wonder  Book  of  Horses,"  Century  Co.,  New  York.  10- 12 
JORDAN,  "True  Tales  of  Birds  and  Beasts,"  D.  C  Heath  & 

Co.,  New  York  n-12 

HOLDER,  "Stories  of  Animal  Life,"  American  Book  Co.,  New 

York  n'12 

SETON,  "Animal  Heroes,"  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York..  12-14 


286  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


HISTORY 

PRATT,  "Legends  of  the  Red  Children/'  American  Book  Co., 

New  York  6-9 

BASS,  "Stories  of  Pioneer  Life,"  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston    6-9 

DOPP,  "Story  of  the  Early  Sea  People,"  Rand,  McNally  &  Co., 

Chicago  6-9 

PUMPHREY,  "Stories  of  the  Pilgrims,"  Rand,  McNally  &  Co., 

Chicago  7-9 

EGGLESTON,  "Stories  of  American  Life  and  Adventure,"  Ameri- 
can Book  Co.,  New  York 9-12 

LIVINGSTON,  "Glimpses  of  Pioneer  Life,"  A.  Flanagan  Co., 

Chicago  9-12 

BOOTH,  "Wonderful  Escapes  by  Americans,"  Houghton,  Mif- 

flin  Co.,  Boston 9-12 

BOOTH,  "Old  World  Hero  Stories,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co., 

Boston  9-12 

HOPKINS,  "The  Indian  Book,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston..  9-12 

ANDREWS,  "Ten  Boys  Who  Lived  on  the  Road  from  Long 

Ago  to  Now/'  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston k 9-12 

PRATT-CHADWICK,  "America's  Story  for  America's  Children," 

D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  New  York 9-12 

BLAISDELL  &  BALL,  "Hero  Stories  from  American  History," 

Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston 9-12 

HOLLAND,  "Historic  Boyhoods,"  "Historic  Girlhoods,"  Geo.  W. 

Jacobs  &  Co.,  Philadelphia 10-12 

SWEETZER,  "Ten  Girls  from  History,"  "Ten  Boys  from  His- 
tory," Duffield  &  Co.,  New  York 10-12 

BROOKS,  "Historic  Girls  and  Historic  Boys,"  G.  P.  Putnam's 

Sons,  New  York  .  ..10-12 


INDUSTRIES 

BINGHAM,   "Little   Folks'    Land,"    Atkinson,    Mentzer   &    Co., 

Chicago    4-6 

PIERSON,  "Among  the  Farm  Yard  People,"  E.  P.  Button  &  Co., 

New  York 4-6 

HOPKINS,  "The  Doers,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston 5-7 

SMITH,  "The  Railroad  Book,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston..  6-9 

SMITH,  "The  Farm  Book,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston 6-9 

SMITH,  "The  Sea  Shore  Book,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston.  6-9 

SHILLIG,  "The  Four  Wonders/'  Rand,  McNally  &  Co.,  Chicago  6-9 


APPENDIX  287 

ABBOTT,  "The  Boy  on  the  Farm,"  American  Book  Co.,  New 

York  7-9 

PARKER  HELM,  "On  the  Farm,"  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York  7-9 
BRADDISH,  "Stories  of  Country  Life,"  American  Book  Co.,  New 

York   7-9 

ADAMS,  "The  Log  of  a  Cowboy,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Bos- 
ton   9-12 

COE,  "Heroes  of  Everyday  Life,"  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston 12-14 

MOFFETT,  "Careers  of  Danger  and  Daring,"  Century  Co.,  New 

York 12-16 

GEOGRAPHY 

"Around  the  World  with  Father,"   "Sunshine  and   Shower," 

Sully  &  Kleinteich,  New  York 5-7 

SMITH,  "Holland  Stories,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston 6-9 

CHANCE,  "Little  Folks  of  Many  Lands,"  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston..  6-9 
BLAISDELL,  "Child  Life  in  Many  Lands,"  Macmillan  Co.,  New 

York  6-9 

ANDREWS,  "Seven  Little  Sisters,"  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston 6-9 

WILLIAMS,  "Romance  of  Modern  Exploration,"  J.  B.  Lippin- 

cott  Co.,  Philadelphia 12-14 

JENKS,  "Boys'  Book  of  Explorations,"  Doubleday,  Page  & 

Co.,  New.  York  12-14 

LITERATURE 

GROVER,  "Folk  Lore  Readers"  (2  Vols.),  American  Book  Co., 

New  York  4-6 

"Chaucer  Story  Book,"  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston 6-9 

ADAMS,  "Folk  Stories  and  Verse,"  American  Book  Co.,  New 

York  6-9 

NIXON-BOULET,  "Indian  Folk  Tales,"  American  Book  Co.,  New 

York  6-9 

GILBERT,  "More  than  Conquerors,"  Century  Co.,  New  York 9-12 

CIVICS 

CABOT,  ET  AL.,  "Course  in  Citizenship,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co., 

Boston 5-14 

ART 

See  Appendix  III. 


288  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

DOMESTIC    SCIENCE 

SCHWARTZ,  "Five  Little  Strangers,"  American  Book  Co.,  New 

York  6-9 

WIGGIN,  "Half  a  Dozen  Housekeepers,"  Henry  Altemus  &  Co., 

Philadelphia  9-12 

RANKJN,  "Dandelion  Cottage,"  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  New  York..  9-12 

VIII 

A    SEASON'S   PROGRAM   OF   STORIES 
To  ACCOMPANY  CHAPTER  XV 

1.    INSPIRATIONAL  VALUE 

(a)  Beauty  of  thought  or  language 

"The  Wild  Swans,"  Andersen 
"The  Happy  Prince,"  Wilde 
"The  Selfish  Giant,"  Wilde 
"Thumbelina,"  Andersen 
"Old  Pipes  and  the  Dryad,"  Stockton 
"The  Little  Lame  Prince,"  Mulock 
"The  Nightingale,"  Andersen 

"The   Sacred   Fire"    (for  older  children  or  Library 
Leagues),  Lagerlof 

(b)  Truth,  ethical  or  real 

"The  Little  Hero  of  Haarlem" 
"Prince  Harweda,"  Harrison 
"The  Great  Stone  Face,"  Hawthorne 
"The  Fisherman  and  His  Wife,"  Grimm 
"The  King  of  the  Golden  River,"  Ruskin 
"The  Stone  Cutter,"  Japanese 
"The  Mirror  of  Matsuyama,"  Japanese 
"Timothy's  Shows,"  Ewing 
"Waste  Not,  Want  Not,"  Edgeworth 
"Golden  Windows,"  Richards 
"The  Pig  Brother,"  Richards 
"The  Ugly  Duckling,"  Andersen 
[(c)     Natural  history  stories 
"The  Busy  Bees" 
"The  Spinner  Family" 
"The  Ants  and  Their  Houses" 
"Rikki-tikki-tavi,"  Kipling 
"Raggylug,"  Seton 
"The  Bell  of  Atri" 
"The  Wonderful  Adventures  of  Nils,"  Lagerlof 


APPENDIX  289 

(d)  Joy,  laughter  and  a  sense  of  real  humor 

"Peter  Pan,"  Barrie 

"Epaminondas,"  Bryant 

"The  Bremen  Town  Musicians,"  Grimm 

"What  the  Good  Man  Does  is  Sure  to  Be  Right," 

Andersen 

"Uncle  Remus  Stories,"  Harris 
"The  Elephant's  Child,"  Kipling 
"The  Donkey  Cabbage,"  Grimm 
"Why  the  Sea  Is  Salt" 
"The  Golden  Goose,"  Grimm 
"Big  Claus  and  Little  Claus,"  Andersen 
"The  Bee,  the  Harp,  the  Mouse  and  the  Bum-clock," 

MacManus 

"The  Plaisham,"  MacManus 
"Hookedy-Crookedy,"  MacManus 
"The  Emperor's  New  Clothes,"  Andersen 
"Little  Black  Sambo,"  Bannerman 

(e)  Fairy  tales 

"The  Goose  Girl,"  Grimm 

"Diamonds  and  Toads,"  Perrault 

"Puss  in  Boots,"  Perrault 

"Jack  and  the  Beanstalk,"  Old  English 

"Cinderella,"   Perrault 

"The  Tinder  Box,"  Andersen 

"The  White  Cats,"  d'Aulnoy 

"East  o'  the  Sun  and  West  o'  the  Moon,"  Asbjornsen 

"Rumpelstilzkin,"  Grimm 

"Snow-White ;  or,  the  Magic  Mirror,"  Grimm 

(f)  Christmas  Stories 

"Why  the  Chimes  Rang,"  Alden 

"The  Little  Shepherd  of  Provence,"  Stein 

"St.  Christopher" 

"Babouscka,"  Russian 

"The  Fir  Tree,"  Andersen 

"The  Christmas  Cuckoo,"  Browne 

"A  Boy's  Visit  to  Santa  Claus,"  Wyche 

"The  Golden  Cobwebs,"  Bryant 

"The  Christmas  Masquerade,"  Freeman 

LITERARY  VALUE  (to  form  reading  taste) 

(a)     Classics  which  cultivate   the  imagination  and  raise  the 

standard 

Stories  from  "The  Odyssey" 
Stories  from  "The  Iliad" 


290  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

Stories  from  "The  Arabian  Nights" 

"Aladdin" 

"Ali  Baba" 

"The  Enchanted  Horse" 
Stories  from  Scott 

"The  Lady  of  the  Lake" 

"The  Lord  of  the  Isles" 
Stories  from  Irving 

"The  Moor's  Legacy" 

"Rip  Van  Winkle" 
Stories  from  Hawthorne's  "Wonderbook"  and  "Tan- 

glewood  Tales" 
Stories  from  Kingsley's   "Heroes" 

(b)  Legends  and  myths  belonging  to  the  race 

"Beowulf" 
"Norse  Stories" 
"Volsunga  Saga" 
"King  Arthur" 

(c)  Old  and   very  famous  stories  which   the   child   might 

otherwise  miss 
Old  Testament  stories 

"Joseph  and  His  Brethren" 

"David  and  Goliath" 
"The  Pied  Piper,"  Browning 
"The  Nurnberg  Stove,"  De  la  Ramee 
"St.  George  and  the  Dragon,"  Spenser 
"Una  and  the  Lion,"  Spenser 
"Dick  Whittington,"  English 
"Robert  of  Sicily,"  Longfellow 
"Robinson  Crusoe,"  Defoe 

3.    HISTORIC  VALUE 

(a)  Picture  of  famous  scenes  or  incidents 

"William  Tell" 

"Pocahontas" 

"Henry  Hudson" 

"Grace  Darling" 

"Florence  Nightingale" 

"Elizabeth  Zare" 

"The   Great   Locomotive   Chase,"   Pittinger 

(b)  Patriotic  sentiment:  devotion  to  patriotic  ideals 

"Joan  of  Arc" 
"Lydia  Darrah" 
"Molly  Pitcher" 
"Nathan  Hale" 


APPENDIX  291 

"The  Man  Without  a  Country,"  Hale 
"Peter  of   Switzerland" 
"The  Sardinian  Drummer  Boy,"  Amicia 
(c)     Biographical:  to  make  great  men  real  and  human 
Heroes  of  the  sea 

"Olaf" 

"Columbus" 

"Paul  Jones" 

"Drake" 

"Lord  Nelson" 

"Little  Jarvis" 

"Cushing" 
"Washington" 
"Lincoln" 

"Robert  the  Bruce" 
"Livingstone" 
"Daniel  Boone" 
"General  Custer" 


IX 

A  PROGRAM  OF  BOTTLE  DOLL  STORIES 
To  ACCOMPANY  CHAPTER  XXI 

Story-tellers  are  already  beginning  to  ask  for  programs  of 
stories  suitable  to  tell  with  bottle  dolls,  extensive  enough  to  last 
for  an  entire  season.  Story-tellers  and  play-fellows  in  children's 
libraries,  public  schools  and  playgrounds  have  already  secured  from 
Mrs.  Lowe  sets  of  her  charming  character  dolls,  made  by  her  own 
hands.  They  are  eager  to  know  if  there  are  enough  stories  to  last 
for  the  entire  winter. 

It  is  believed  that  to  follow  graded  programs  as  below,  inter- 
spersed with  doll  stories  originated  or  adapted  by  the  story-teller 
and  by  stories  originated  by  children,  will  be  quite  satisfactory 
for  this  purpose.  The  methods  suggested  in  the  previous  chapters 
will  be  sufficient  as  a  guide  to  the  alert  teacher.  The  following 
stories  have  been  chosen  because  of  their  simplicity  of  plot  and  of 
scenery,  and  because  most  of  them  suggest  the  spirit  which  is  in 
Mrs.  Lowe's  own  stories. 

STORIES  FOR  CHILDREN  FROM  4  TO  8: 

1.  "Frank  Enters  the  Enchanted  Land,"  by  Mary  Lowe 

2.  "Frank  and  Ruth  Visit  the  Enchanted  Land,"  by  Mary  Lowe 


292  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

3.  "Silver  Bells,"  by  Mary  Lowe 

4.  "Lena  and  Puck  in  the  Enchanted  Land,"  by  Mary  Lowe 

5.  "When  Lena  Hid  from  the  Fairy  Queen/'  by  Mary  Lowe 

6.  "The  Lovely  Lady,"  by  Mary  Lowe 

7.  "The  Fox  and  the  Farmer,"  by  Mary  Lowe 

8.  "When  the  Chimes  Rang,"  by  Raymond  M.  Alden,  in  Emilie 

Poulsson's  "In  the  Child's  World" 

9.  "The  Pig  Brother,"  in  Sara  Cone  Bryant's  "How  to  Tell 

Stories  to  Children" 

10.  "Little  Daylight,"  in  "How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children" 

11.  "The  Tale  of  Peter  Rabbit,"  by  Beatrix  Potter 

12.  "The  Children  in  the  Wood,"  in  "Stories  Children  Love" 

13.  "Little  Goody  Two- Shoes,"  in  "Stones  Children  Love" 

14.  "One  Eye,  Two  Eyes,  Three  Eyes,"  in  "Fairy  Tales  Every 

Child  Should  Know" 

15.  "The  Magic  Mirror,"  in  "Fairy  Tales  Every  Child  Should 

Know" 

16.  "Hansel  and  Gretel,"  in  "Fairy  Tales  Every  Child  Should 

Know" 

17.  "Prince  Cherry,"  in  Sara  Cone  Bryant's  "Stories  to  Tell  to 

Children" 
STORIES  FOR  CHILDREN  FROM  8  TO  12: 

1.  "Frank  Enters  the  Enchanted  Land,"  by  Mary  Lowe 

2.  "Frank  and  Ruth  Visit  the  Enchanted  Land,"  by  Mary  Lowe 

3.  "The  Know  Nothing  Land,"  by  Mary  Lowe 

4.  "The  King  of  the  Golden  River,"  abridged  by  Sara  Cone 

Bryant  in  "How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children" 

5.  "Timothy's  Quest,"  by  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin 

6.  "Editha's  Burglar,"  by  Frances  Hodgson  Burnett 

7.  "Raleigh's  Cloak."  in  "Stories  Children  Love" 

8.  "The   Story   of    Prince   Scarlet,"   in    "Once   Upon  a  Time 

Tales" 

9.  "The  Princess  Meadow  Lark,"  in  "Once  Upon  a  Time  Tales" 

10.  "Heather  Fairies,"  in  "Once  Upon  a  Time  Tales" 

11.  "Storm  Swallows,"  in  "Once  Upon  a  Time  Tales" 

12.  "The  Enchanted  Wood,"  in  "Once  Upon  a  Time  Tales" 

13.  "Paulina's  Christmas,"  in  E.  N.  and  G.  E.  Partridge's  "Story- 

Telling  in  School  and  Home" 


APPENDIX  293 


A  GENERAL  LIST   OF   STORY-BOOKS 

'The  best  story-tellers  are  the  poor,"  said  Stevenson  once,  "for 
they  have  to  lay  their  ear  to  the  ground  every  night."  In  this  sense 
most  of  us  must  acknowledge  that  we  are  to  be  numbered  with  the 
poor.  We  are  never  found  with  full  granaries. 

"One's  favorite  story,"  as  St.  John  tells  us,  "is  usually  the  best. 
Whatever  one  has  deeply  felt  will  appeal  to  many  others,  if  it  is 
rightly  presented.  The  stories  that  have  moved  you  are  the  ones 
through  which  you,  if  not  another,  can  best  stir  other  hearts.  The 
novels  that  you  remember,  the  characters  in  history  that  stand  out, 
the  incidents  of  every-day  life  that  stirred  your  sympathy  or  admira- 
tion, the  friends  that  you  have  loved,  these  are  the  things  that, 
shaped  into  simple  stories,  will  go  from  your  lips  to  the  hearts  of 
those  that  listen.  With  these  stories  you  will  give  yourself." 

We  have  spoken  of  the  extraordinary  charm  which  reminis- 
cences of  one's  own  life  have,  if  they  are  told  brightly  and  humor- 
ously to  children.  Mr.  St.  John  is  right  in  saying  that  whatever 
we  have  read  as  well  as  experienced  shares  in  this  power. 

We  who  have  many  stories  to  tell  ought  to  keep  and  file  them  as 
they  come  to  us  out  of  the  monthly  magazines  and  the  fugitive  press. 
Nobody  can  ever  have  too  many  apt  funny  stories;  no  parent  can 
ever  have  too  many  children's  stories  in  pickle. 

There  are  also  whole  sheaves  of  good  story-books.  Of  these 
a  good  list  is  given  below.  The  list  consists  almost  entirely  of  col- 
lections of  separate  stories.  A  few  books  are  mentioned  containing 
other  lists  of  story-books.  This  list  is  of  stories  of  some  literary 
quality.  The  lists  at  the  end  of  previous  chapters  were  for  other 
specific  purposes  and  include  few  books  mentioned  here. 


A    LIST    OF    STORY-BOOKS 

AFTER  LONG  YEARS  AND  OTHER  STORIES,  by  Sophie  A.  Miller  and 
Agnes  M.  Dunne,  published  by  A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Some  old-fashioned  stories  with  a  moral  purpose. 
ALL  THE  YEAR  ROUND,  3  vols.,  by  Frances  Lucia  Strong,  published 

by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 

AUNT  Jo's   SCRAP  BAG,  by  Louisa  M.   Alcott,  published  by  Little, 
Brown  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Good,  sensible  home  stories  of  real  life  of  the  sort  which 
children  from  seven  to  ten  ask  to  hear. 


294  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

BALLADS  AND  TALES,  by  Haaren,  published  by  the  University  Press, 
Chicago. 

BASKET  WOMAN,  by  Mrs.   Mary  Austin,   published  by  Houghton, 
Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

BED-TIME  STORIES,  by  Louise  Chandler  Moulton,  published  by  Little, 
Brown  &  Co.,  Boston. 

BIMBI  STORIES  FOR  CHILDREN,  by  Louise  De  la  Ramee,  published  by 
Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 

BLUE  BIRD  FOR  CHILDREN,  THE,  by  Mme.  Maurice  Maeterlinck,  pub- 
lished by  Silver,  Burdett  &  Co.,  New  York. 

BLUE  FAIRY  BOOK,  THE,  by  Andrew  Lang,  published  by  Longmans, 
Green  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Of  the  score  of  collections  of  fairy  tales  made  by  Andrew 
Lang,  this  and  "The  Red  Fairy  Book"  are  generally  considered 
the  best. 

BOOK  OF  BALLAD  STORIES,  by  Mary  MacLeod,  published  by  F.  A. 
Stokes  Co.,  New  York. 
Prose  versions  of  340  English  and  Scotch  ballads. 

BOOK  OF  FOLK   STORIES,   by  Horace  Elisha  Scudder,  published  by 
Houghton,  Mifflin   Co.,  Boston. 

BOOK  OF  FRIENDLY  GIANTS,  by  Eunice  Foster,  published  by  the  Cen- 
tury Co.,  New  York. 

BOOK  OF  LEGENDS,  by  Horace  Elisha  Scudder,  published  by  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

BOOK  OF  LEGENDS  TOLD   OVER  AGAIN,  by  Horace  Elisha  Scudder, 
published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

BOOK  OF  LITTLE  BOYS,  by  Helen  Dawes  Brown,  published  by  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

BOOK  OF  SAINTS  AND  FRIENDLY  BEASTS,  by  Abbie  Farwell  Brown, 
published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

Charming  tales  of  lovable  saints  and  the  animals  for  which 
they  cared. 

BOSTON  COLLECTION   OF  KINDERGARTEN  STORIES,  published  by  J.  L. 
Hammett  Co.,  Boston. 

BOYHOOD  IN  NORWAY,  by  Hjalmar   Hjorth  Boyesen,  published  by 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 

BRAIDED  STRAWS,  by  Elizabeth  E.  Foulke,  published  by  Silver,  Bur- 
dett &  Co.,  New  York. 

BROADENING  PATH,  THE,  by  William  Byron  Forbush,  published  by 
B.  F.  Bowen  &  Co.,  Indianapolis. 

A  mammoth  collection  of  stories  with  a  moral  purpose;  now 
out  of  print. 

CARELESS  JANE  AND  OTHER  TALES,  by  Katharine  Pyle,  published  by 
E.  P.  Button  &  Co.,  New  York. 


APPENDIX  295 

CAT-TAILS  AND  OTHER  TALES,  by  Mary  H.  Howliston,  published  by 

A.  Flanagan  Co.,  Chicago. 

CHARACTER  BUILDING  READERS,  published  by  Hinds,   Noble  &  El- 
dridge,  Philadelphia. 

Nine  volumes  of  well  chosen  stories,  mostly  having  a  moral 
purpose,  intended  for  school  reading-books. 
CHILD  LIFE  IN  PROSE,  by  J.  G.  Whittier,  published  by  Houghton, 

Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

CHILDREN'S  BOOK,  by  Horace  Elisha  Scudder,  published  by  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

One  of  the  best  collections  of  stories  for  children  of  all  ages 
in  the  home. 
CHILDREN'S  BOOK,  THE,  by  Frances  Hodgson  Burnett,  Cupples  and 

Son  Co.,  New  York. 

CHILD'S  CHRIST  TALES,  by  A.  H.  Proudfoot,  published  by  A.  Flana- 
gan Co.,  Chicago. 

CHILD'S  TREASURE  TROVE  OF  PEARLS,  by  Mary  W.  Tileston,  published 
by  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  Boston. 

An  excellent  compilation  of  stories  of  thirty  to  sixty  years 
ago,  of  varied  sorts  and  for  all  grades. 
CHRISTMAS  EVERY  DAY,  by  W.  D.  Howells,  published  by  Harper  & 

Bros.,  New  York. 
CROOKED   OAK   TREE,   by   Carter  &  Field,   published  by   Frederick 

Warne,  New  York. 
CRUIKSHANK  FAIRY  BOOK,  published  by  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New 

York. 
CURLY  HEAD  AND  His  NEIGHBORS,  by  Carter  &  Field,  published  by 

Frederick  Warne,  New  York. 
DANISH  FAIRY  TALES,  from  Svend  Grundtvig,  published  by  Duffield 

&  Co.,  New  York. 

DESCRIPTIVE  STORIES  FOR  ALL  THE  YEAR,  by  Maud  Burnham,  pub- 
lished by  Milton  Bradley  Company,  Springfield. 

A  collection  of  stories  for  little  children,  indexed  according 
to  the  seasons  of  the  year. 

DONEGAL  FAIRY  BOOK,  by  Seumas  MacManus,  published  by  Double- 
day,  Page  &  Co.,  New  York. 

DON  QUIXOTE,  edited  by  Mary  E.  Burt  and  Lucy  L.  Cable,  published 
by  Charles   Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 

A  simplified  version. 

DREAM  CHILDREN,  by  Horace  Elisha  Scudder,  published  by  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

EACH  AND  ALL,  by  Jane  Andrews,  published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Bos- 
ton. 


296  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

EAST  o'  THE  SUN  AND  WEST  o'  THE  MOON,  by  Gudrun  Thorn  Thorn- 
sen,  published  by  Rand,  McNally  &  Co.,  Chicago. 

Norwegian   folk-tales. 

ENGLISH  FAIRY  TALES,  by  Joseph  Jacobs,  published  by  G.  P.  Put- 
nam's Sons,  New  York. 

This,  and  its  sequel,  "More  English  Fairy  Tales,"  is  the  best 
collection  of  stories  indicated  by  the  title. 

ETHICS  FOR  CHILDREN,  by  Ella  Lyman  Cabot,  published  by  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

Well  chosen  stories  with  a  moral  purpose. 

EYES  AND  No  EYES,  by  J.  Aiken  and  others,  published  by  D.  C. 
Heath  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Old-fashioned  stories  intended  to  awaken  the  intelligence  of 
children. 
FABLES  AND  FOLK  STORIES,  by  Horace  Elisha  Scudder,  published  by 

Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

FAIRY  LIFE,  by  Haaren,  published  by  the  University  Press,  Chicago. 
FAIRY  RING,  THE,  by  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin  and  Nora  A.  Smith, 
published  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Designed   by   its    editors    to   be   a   standard   fairy  book   for 
children. 
FAIRY  STORIES   AND  FABLES,  by  James  Baldwin,  published  by  the 

American  Book  Co.,  New  York. 

FAIRY  TALES,  by  Hans  Christian  Andersen.  Illustrated  by  Thomas 
C.  and  William  Robinson.  Translated  by  Mrs.  E.  V.  Lucas. 
Published  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  New  York. 
FAIRY  TALES,  by  Jacob  K.  L.  and  W.  K.  Grimm.  Illustrated  by 
Arthur  Rackham.  Translated  by  Mrs.  E.  V.  Lucas.  Published 
by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  New  York. 

FAIRY  TALES  A  CHILD  CAN  READ  AND  ACT,  by  Lillian  Edith  Nixon, 
published  by  Doubleday,   Page  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Especially    helpful    for    encouraging    children    to    retell    and 
enact  the  stories  they  have  listened  to. 
FAIRY  TALES  CHILDREN  LOVE,  by  Charles  Welsh,  published  by  the 

Dodge  Publishing  Co.,   New  York. 
FAIRY  TALES  FROM  THE  FAR  NORTH,  by  P.  C.  Asbjornsen,  published 

by  A.  L.  Burt  &  Co.,  New  York. 
FANCIFUL  TALES,    by   Francis    R.    Stockton,   published   by   Charles 

Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 

FIFTY  FAMOUS  STORIES  RETOLD,  by  James  Baldwin,  published  by  the 
American  Book  Co.,  New  York. 

An  unusually  fine  collection  of  stories  of  heroism  and  ad- 
venture. 

FINDING  LIST  OF  FAIRY  TALES  AND  FOLK  STORIES,  Boston  Public 
Library. 


APPENDIX  297 

FIRELIGHT  STORIES,  by  Carolyn  Sherwin  Bailey,  published  by  the 
Milton  Bradley  Company,  Springfield. 

A  group  of  old  folk  tales  from  many  lands. 

FIVE  MINUTE  STORIES,  by  Laura  E.  Richards,  published  by  Dana 
Estes  &  Co.,  Boston. 

This  and  her  "More  Five  Minute  Stories"  and  her  "Three 
Minute  Stories"  are  nice  little  tales,  moral  in  character,  for  small 
children. 
FIRST  BOOK  OF  STORIES  FOR  THE  STORY-TELLER,  THE,  by  Fanny  E. 

Coe,  published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 
FOLK   TALES    FROM    MANY   LANDS,   by   Lillian   Cask,   published   by 

Thomas  Y.  Crowell  Co.,  New  York. 
FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN,  by  V.  X.  K.  Blumental,  published 

by   Rand,    McNally  &  Co.,   Chicago. 

FOLK  TALES  OF  EAST  AND  WEST,  by  John  Harrington  Cox,  pub- 
lished by  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  Boston. 
FOR  THE  CHILDREN'S    HOUR,  by   Carolyn   S.   Bailey   and   Clara   M. 

Lewis,  published  by  Milton  Bradley  Co.,  Springfield. 
FORGOTTEN  TALES  OF  LONG  AGO,  by  E.  V.  Lucas,  published  by  F.  A. 
Stokes   Co.,   New   York. 

A  valuable  collection  of  twenty  quaint  and  stilted  tales  of  the 
period  of  1790-1830. 
FORTY-FOUR  TURKISH   FAIRY  TALES,  translated  by  Ignacz   Kunos, 

published  by  T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  New  York. 
GERMAN  HOUSEHOLD  TALES,  by  Jacob  K.   L.   and  W.   K.  Grimm, 

published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

GOLDEN  RULE  SEsi^sTTby  E.  Hershey  Sneath,  George  Hodges  and 
Lawrence  EdwaTcT^teyens,  published  by  the  Macmillan  Co., 
New  York. 

An  excellent  series  of  school  readers  in  several  volumes, 
composed  of  stories  with  a  moral  purpose,  mostly  of  fine  literary 
quality. 

GOLDEN  SPEARS,  THE,  by  Edmund  Leamy,  published  by  D.  Fitz- 
gerald, New  York. 

The  finest  collection  of  fairy  stories  which  has  been  written 
in  our  generation.  Another  is  his  "The  Fairy  Minstrel  of  Glen- 
malure,"  by  the  same  publisher. 

GOLDEN  WINDOWS,  THE,  by  Laura  E.  Richards,  published  by  Little, 
Brown  &  Co.,  Boston. 

An  especially  fine  selection  of  stories  for  little  children. 
GOOD  STORIES  FOR  GREAT  HOLIDAYS,  by  Frances  Jenkins  Olcott,  pub- 
lished by  Houghton,  Miiflin  Co.,  Boston. 

HALF  A  HUNDRED  STORIES,  published  by  Milton  Bradley  Co.,  Spring- 
field. 


298  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

HASSLER'S  GRADED  LIST  OF  STORIES  FOR  READING  ALOUD,  E.,  Public 

Library  Commission  of  Indiana,  1908. 
HEART  OF  OAK  BOOKS,  by  Charles  Eliot  Norton,  published  by  D.  C. 

Heath  &  Co.,  New  York. 

A  series  of  school  readers  of  fine  literary  quality,  including 
some  stories  intended   for  character-building. 
HERAKLES,   THE   HERO  OF  THEBES,   by   Mary   E.   Burt   and   Z.   A. 

Ragozin,  published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 
HEROES,  by  Charles  Kingsley,  published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 
HEROES  OF  THE  DAWN,  by  Violet  Russell,  published  by  the  Mac- 

millan  Company,   New  York. 

Irish  folk-tales. 

HOLIDAYS  :  ST.  NICHOLAS,  published  by  the  Century  Co.,  New  York. 
HOUSE  I  LIVE  IN,  THE,  by  Brown,  published  by  the  American  Book 

Co.,  New   York. 

HOUSEHOLD  STORIES,  by  Annie  Klingensmith,  published  by  A.  Flana- 
gan Co.,  Chicago. 
How  TO  TELL  STORIES  TO  CHILDREN,  by  Sara  Cone  Bryant,  published 

by  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 
IN   STORY-LAND,  by  Elizabeth   Harrison,  published  by  the   Central 

Publishing  Company. 

Is  not  a  new  book,  but  is  a  very  good  one. 
INDEX  TO  SHORT  STORIES,  by  Grace  E.  Salisbury  and  Marie  E.  Beck- 

with,  published  by  Row,  Peterson  &  Co.,  Chicago. 
IN  THE  CHILD'S  WORLD,  by  Emilie  Poulsson,  published  by  Milton 

Bradley  Co.,   Springfield. 
IN  THE  DAYS  OF  GIANTS,  by  Abbie  Farwell  Brown,  published  by 

Houghton,  Mififlin  Co.,  Boston. 
IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  FOREST  AND  OTHER  STORIES,  by  Sophie  A. 

Miller  and  Agnes  M.  Dunne,  published  by  A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co., 

New  York. 
JAPANESE  FAIRY  TALES,  by  Teresa  Peirce  Williston,  published  by 

Rand,  McNally  &  Co.,  Chicago. 
JAPANESE  FAIRY  TALES,  by  Yee  Theodosia  Ozaki,  published  by  A.  L. 

Burt  &  Co.,  New  York. 
JEWEL'S    STORY    BOOK,    by    Clara    Louise    Burnham,    published    by 

Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

JIMPY  STORIES,  THE,  by  H.  Grace  Parsons,  published  by  E.  P.  But- 
ton &  Co.,  New  York. 

A  collection  of  "bed  time  stories"  inspired  by  the  jingles  of 

Mother    Goose,   with    Jimpy   as   the  hero;    quaintly    simple,   but 

possessing  a  form  of  philosophy  that  appeals   to  little   children. 

JUNGLE  BOOKS,  by  Rudyard  Kipling,  published  by  the  Century  Co., 

New  York. 


APPENDIX  299 

JUST   So   STORIES,   by  Rudyard   Kipling,   published  by  Doubleday, 

Page  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Unique  plots  and  unique  humor.     They  need  to  be  told  in 
the  author's  own  words. 
KINDERGARTEN  STORIES  AND  MORNING  TALKS,  by  Sara  Eliza  Wiltse, 

published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 
KINDERGARTEN  STORY  BOOK,  by  Jane  Lincoln  Hoxie,  published  by 

Milton  Bradley  Co.,  Springfield. 

KING  ARTHUR  AND  His  KNIGHTS,  by  Maude  Lavinia  Radford,  pub- 
lished by  Rand,  McNally  &  Co.,  Chicago. 
LADY  LEE  AND  OTHER  ANIMAL  STORIES,  by  Heiman  Lee  Ensign, 

published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 
LAND  OF  PLUCK,  by  Mary  Mapes  Dodge,  published  by  the  Century 

Co.,  New  York. 
LEGENDS  OF  THE  RED  CHILDREN,  by  M.  L.  Pratt-Chadwick,  published 

by  E.  S.  Werner  &  Co.,  New  York. 

LEGENDS  OF  THE  SPRINGTIME,  by  R.  Hoyt,  published  by  the  Educa- 
tional Publishing  Co.,  Chicago. 
LITTLE  BOOK  OF  PROFITABLE  TALES,  by  Eugene  Field,  published  by 

Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 
LITTLE   FIG   TREE   SERIES,   by  Mary   Hallock  Foote,   published  by 

Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 
LOBO,  RAG  AND  VIXEN,  by  Ernest  Thompson  Seton,  published  by 

Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 
MAGIC  CASEMENTS,  by  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin  and  Nora  A.  Smith, 

published  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  New  York. 
MORAL  INSTRUCTION,  by  F.  J.  Gould,  published  by  Longmans,  Green 

&  Co.,  New  York. 

A  description  of  Mr.  Gould's  method  of  developing  character 
through  stories,  illustrated  by  a  number  of  actual  tales. 
MORE  ENGLISH  FAIRY  TALES,  by  Joseph  Jacobs,  published  by  G.  P. 

Putnam's  Sons,  New  York. 
MORE  FIVE  MINUTE  STORIES,  by  Laura  E.  Richards,  published  by 

Dana  Estes  &  Co.,  Boston. 
MORE    MOTHER    STORIES,    by   Maud   Lindsay,   published   by    Milton 

Bradley  Co.,   Springfield. 

This  and  her  "Mother  Stories"  are  skilfully  wrought  moral 
stories  interesting  to  children  from  five  to  nine. 
MOTHER  GOOSE  VILLAGE,  by  Madge  A.  Bingham,  published  by  Rand, 

McNally  &  Co.,  Chicago. 
MOTHER.  STORIES,  by  Maud  Lindsay,  published  by  Milton  Bradley 

Co.,  Springfield. 
MY  DAYS  WITH  THE  FAIRIES,  by  Mrs.  Rodolph  Stawell,  published 

by  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  New  York. 


300  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

MYTHS  AND  MOTHER  PLAYS,  by  Sara   Eliza  Wiltse,  published  by 

Milton  Bradley  Co.,  Springfield. 
MYTHS  EVERY  CHILD  SHOULD  KNOW,  edited  by  Hamilton   Wright 

Mabie,  published  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  Garden  City,  New 

York. 
NATURE  MYTHS  AND  STORIES,  by  Flora  J.  Cooke,  published  by  A. 

Flanagan   Co.,   Chicago. 
NIGHTS  WITH  UNCLE  REMUS,  by  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  published  by 

Houghton,  Miflflin  Co.,  Boston. 

One  of  the  universal  books  of  humor.    Peculiarly  adapted  for 
reading  aloud. 
NORSE  FAIRY  TALES,  by  P.  C  Asbjornsen,  published  by  J.  B.  Lippin- 

cott  &  Co.,  Philadelphia. 
NORSE  STORIES,  by   Hamilton   Wright  Mabie,  published  by  Dodd, 

Mead  &  Co.,  New  York. 
ODYSSEUS,  THE  HERO  OF  ITHACA,  by  Mary  E.  Burt  and  Z.  A.  Rago- 

zin,  published  by  Charles  Scribner's   Sons,  New  York. 
OLD  GREEK  STORIES,  by  James  Baldwin,  published  by  the  American 

Book  Co.,  New  York. 
OLD   INDIAN    LEGENDS,   by   Zitkala-sa,   published    by    Ginn   &   Co., 

Boston. 

ON  A  PINCUSHION  AND  OTHER  TALES,  by  Mary  De  Morgan,  pub- 
lished by  T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  New  York. 
Novel  stories,  with  wood  engravings  by  William  De  Morgan, 

the  novelist. 
ONCE  UPON  A  TIME  TALES,  by  Mary  Stewart   published  by  Fleming 

H.  Revell  Co.,  New  York. 

PIED  PIPER  AND  OTHER  STORIES,  by  Banta,  published  by  A.  Flana- 
gan Co.,   Chicago. 
PLAY  DAYS,  by  Sarah  Orne  Jewett,  published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin 

Co.,  Boston. 
QUEER   LITTLE   PEOPLE,   by    Harriet    Beecher    Stowe,    published   by 

Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 
QUOTATIONS  AND  SELECT  STORIES  FOR  OPENING  EXERCISES,  by  Geo. 

F.  Bass,  published  by  A.  Flanagan  Co.,  Chicago. 
RAB  AND  His  FRIENDS,  by  John  Brown,  published  by  D.  C.  Heath 

&  Co.,  New  York. 
RAINY  DAYS  AND  SUNNY  DAYS,  by  Mrs.  Kate  Patch,  published  by 

Milton   Bradley   Co.,    Springfield. 
ROUND   ABOUT    RAMBLES,    by    Francis    R.    Stockton,    published    by 

Charles   Scribner's   Sons,  New  York. 
RUSSIAN    GRANDMOTHER'S    WONDER    TALES,    by    Louise    Seymour 

Houghton,  published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 


APPENDIX  301 

SAM;   OR,  OUR  CAT  TALES,  by  C.  Louise   Schaffner,  published  by 
Atkinson,  Mentzer  &  Co.,  New  York. 

An  extraordinary  book  for  little  children. 

SANDMAN  :   MORE  FARM   STORIES,  by  William  John  Hopkins,  pub- 
lished by  L.  C.  Page  &  Co.,  Boston. 

SEED  BABIES,  by  Margaret  W.  Morley,  published  by  Ginn  &  Co., 

Boston. 
SEVEN    LITTLE   PEOPLE,   by    Horace    Elisha    Scudder,    published   by 

Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 
SEVEN  LITTLE  SISTERS,  by  Jane  Andrews,  published  by  Ginn  &  Co., 

Boston. 
SHORT  STORIES  OF  OUR  SHY  NEIGHBORS,  by  M.  Kelly,  published  by  the 

American  Book  Co.,  New  York. 
SLEEPY  TIME  STORY  BOOK,  THE,  by  Ruth  O.  Dyer,  published  by 

Lothrop,  Lee  and  Shepard  Co.,  Boston. 
SOLOMON  CROW'S  CHRISTMAS   POCKETS,  by   Ruth  McEnery  Stuart, 

published  by  Harper  &  Bros.,  New  York. 
SONGS  AND  STORIES,  by  Haaren,  published  by  the  University  Press, 

Chicago. 
SPINNING  WHEEL  STORIES,  by  Louise  M.  Alcott,  published  by  Little, 

Brown  &  Co.,  Boston. 
ST.  NICHOLAS  CHILDREN'S  BOOK,  published  by  the  Century  Co.,  New 

York. 

STAR  JEWELS  AND  OTHER  WONDERS,  by  Abbie  Farwell  Brown,  pub- 
lished by  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 
STORIES  AND  POEMS  FOR  CHILDREN,  by  Celia  Thaxter,  published  by 

Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 
STORIES  CHILDREN  LOVE,  by  Charles  Welsh,  published  by  the  Dodge 

Publishing  Co.,  New  York. 
STORIES  FOR  KINDERGARTENS  AND  PRIMARY  SCHOOLS,  by  Sara  Eliza 

Wiltse,  published  by  the  American  Book  Co.,  New  York. 
STORIES  FOR  LITTLE  LISTENERS,  by  Margaret  Boughton,  published  by 

Charles  &  Dible,  London. 
STORIES  FOR  WAKELAND  AND  DREAMLAND  FOR   KINDERGARTEN  AND 

PRIMARY  CHILDREN,  by  Anne  Elizabeth  Allen,  published  by  the 

Milton  Bradley  Co.,   Springfield. 

A   collection   of   stories   based   almost   entirely   upon  nature 
motives  and  following  the  round  of  the  year. 
STORIES  FROM  FAMOUS  BALLADS,  by  Sara  Jane  Lippincott,  published 

by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 
STORIES   FROM   LIFE,   by   Orison   Swett   Marden,  published  by  the 

American  Book  Co.,  New  York, 


302  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

STORIES  FROM  MY  ATTIC,  by  Horace  Elisha  Scudder,  published  by 
Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

STORIES  FROM  OLD  FRENCH  ROMANCE,  by  Ethel  M.  Wilmot-Buxton, 
published  by  Frederick  A.  Stokes  Co.,  New  York. 

STORIES  FROM  PLATO  AND  OTHER  CLASSIC  WRITERS,  by  Mary  Eliza- 
beth Burt,  published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 

STORIES  MOTHER  NATURE  TOLD  HER  CHILDREN,  by  Jane  Andrews, 
published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 

STORIES  OF  BRAVE  DOGS,  by  H.  M.  Carter,  published  by  the  Century 

Co.,  New  York. 
STORIES  OF  HUMBLE  FRIENDS,  by  Katharine  Pyle,  published  by  the 

American  Book  Co.,  New  York. 

STORIES  OF  MY  FOUR  FRIENDS,  by  Jane  Andrews,  published  by  Ginn 
&  Co.,  Boston. 

STORIES  TO  READ  OR  TELL,  by  Laura  Claire  Foucher,  published  by 
Moffat,  Yard  &  Co,  New  York. 

STORIES  TO  TELL  TO  CHILDREN,  by  Sara  Cone  Bryant,  published  by 
Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 
Following  her  "How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children." 

STORY  HOUR,  by  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin  and  Nora  A  Smith,  published 
by  Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

STORY  IN  PRIMARY  INSTRUCTION,  by  S.  B.  Allison  and  H.  A.  Purdue, 
published  by  A.  Flanagan  Co,  Chicago. 

STORY-LAND,  by  Effie  Seachrist,  published  by  the  A.  S.  Barnes  Co., 
New  York. 

Upon  alternate  pages  are  charming  pictures  of  child  life. 
Upon  the  page  opposite  each  picture  is  an  outline  of  a  composition 
indicating  in  each  case,  the  place,  time,  the  actors,  the  intro- 
duction, the  incident  and  the  climax  of  the  story,  with  suggestive 
phrases  and  questions.  The  purpose,  of  course,  is  to  help  the 
children  to  tell  or  write  stories  based  upon  these  pictures. 

STORY-TELL  LIB,  by  Mrs.  Annie  Slosson,  published  by  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 

SUNKEN  CITY  AND  OTHER  STORIES,  THE,  by  Marie  H.  Frary  and 
Charles  M.  Stebbins,  published  by  Milton  Bradley  Co,  Spring- 
field. 

TALES  OF  LAUGHTER,  by  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin  and  Nora  A.  Smith, 
published  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co,  New  York. 

TALES  OF  MOTHER  GOOSE,  by  Charles  Perrault,  published  by  D.  C. 
Heath  &  Co,  New  York, 


APPENDIX  303 

TALES  OF  WONDER,  by  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin  and  Nora  A.  Smith, 
published  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  New  York. 

TANGLEWOOD  TALES,  by  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  published  by  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

THE  TEACHER'S  STORY-TELLER'S  BOOK,  by  Alice  O'Grady  and  Frances 
Throop,  published  by  Rand,  McNally  &  Co.,  Chicago. 

Gets  its  name  from  the  fact  that  the  stories,  selected  from 
many  sources,  are  adapted  to  the  first  five  grades  in  school. 
They  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  the  grades. 

TEN  BOYS,  by  Jane  Andrews,  published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 

THIRTY  MORE  FAMOUS  STORIES  RETOLD,  by  James  Baldwin,  published 
by  the  American  Book  Co.,  New  York. 

Somewhat   more  advanced  than  his  "Fifty  Famous    Stories 
Retold." 
THREE  FAIRY  TALES,  by  Jean  Ingelow,  published  by  D.  C.  Heath 

&  Co.,  New  York. 

THREE  MINUTE  STORIES,  by  Laura  E.   Richards,  published  by  the 
Page  Co.,  Boston. 

There  are  not  many  good  books  containing  stories  for  little 
children  under  school  age.  This  is  a  good  one;  in  fact,  it  is  one 
of  the  best. 

TOLD  BY  THE  CAMP  FIRE,  by  F.  H.  Cheley,  published  by  the  Asso- 
ciation Press,  New  York. 

Is  a  collection  of  short  stories  which  have  been  told  to  older 
boys  in  camp.  Each  one  is  the  story  of  some  adventure  in  camp 
life. 

TRUE  BIRD  STORIES,  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Miller,  published  by  Hough- 
ton,  Mifflin  Co.,   Boston. 
TRUE  FAIRY  TALES,  by  M.  E.  Bakewell,  published  by  the  American 

Book  Co.,  New  York. 
TRUE  TALES  OF  BIRDS  AND  BEASTS,  by  D.  Jordan,  published  by  D.  C. 

Heath  &  Co.,  New  York. 
UNCLE  REMUS  :  His  SONGS  AND  SAYINGS,  by  Joel  Chandler  Harris, 

published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 
WASTE  NOT,  WANT  Nor,  AND  OTHER  STORIES,  by  Maria  Edgeworth 

and  others,  published  by  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  New  York. 
WIGWAM  EVENINGS,  by  Charles  A.  Eastman,  published  by  Little, 
Brown  &  Co.,  Boston. 

Sioux  Indian  tales. 

WINGS  AND  STINGS,  by  Mrs.  Agnes  McClelland  Daulton,  published 
by  Rand,  McNally  &  Co.,  Chicago. 


304  MANUAL  OF  STORIES 

WONDER  BOOK,  by  Nathaniel   Hawthorne,  published  by  Houghton, 
Mifflin  Co.,  Boston. 

The  Greek  myths  told  in  beautiful  language  but  needing  some 
adaptation  in  giving  to  children. 

WONDERFUL  CHAIR  AND  THE  TALES  IT  TOLD,  by  Frances  Browne, 
published  by  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  New  York. 

A  delightful  collection  of  fairy  stories  written  by  a  woman 
born  blind. 


INDEX 


Accessories  for  the  Bottle  Dolls, 

228 

Acting  Stories,  81 
Action  in   Story-telling,  31 
Addition,    126 
Adler,   Felix,  22,    119,    122,   128, 

131 

Admiration,  12 
Adolescence  and  Pictures,  62 
"Age  of  Innocence,  The,"  65 
Alden,  Raymond  M.,  224 
Allegories,  23,  104 
Allegory  of  the  Enchanted  Land, 

The,  187 

Amateur  Theatricals,  82 
Arrangement  of  the  Story,  The, 

29 

Art  in  Story-telling,  165 
Attention  in  Story-telling,  30,  39, 

135 

Bailey,  Carolyn  Sherwin,  25,  30, 
59,  62,  81,  163 

Barnes,   Earl,    130 

Beall,  Meta  Eloise,  42 

Bed-time  Stories,  150 

Beginning,  The,  29,  190 

Bible  and  Present  Day  Life, 
The,  130 

Bible  as  a  Story-book,  The,  122 

Bible  Stories,  109,  122,  278 

Bible  Story  Books,  280 

Bible  Story  Play,  224 

Biographical  Stories,  99 

Biography,  19,  111 

Books  and  Stories,  139 

Books  Containing  Picture  De- 
scriptions, 253 


Books  of  Dramatics,  257 
Bottle  Characters,  The,  179 
Bottle  People,  The,  175 
Bottle  Story  Program,  A,  291 
Bottles,  The  Advantage  of,  176 
Bourne,  Randolph  S.,  141 
"Boy  and  Rabbit,  The,"  64 
Boys'  Tastes,  24,  160 
Braucher,  Howard  S.,  83 
"Brew,  The,"  208 
Bryant,  Sara  Cone,  12,  36,  41 
Burr,  H.  M.,  74 
Buttercup,  206 

Cabot,  Ella  Lyman,  14 
Candor,   123 

Chalk  and  Story-telling,  46 
Character-building  Stories,  7,  92, 

264 

Charades,  86 
Chart  of  the  Bottle  Characters, 

A,  204 
Chart  of  the  Enchanted  Land,  A, 

185 

Child,  Responsiveness  of  the,  4 
Children's  Dramatics,  86 
Child's  Part,  The,  48 
Clearness,  36 
Climax,  The,  35,  162 
"Closing  Door,  The,"  106 
Coe,  George  A.,  13,  112 
Color,  35 

Comfort  of  Stories,  The,  143 
Companionship  of  Stories,  The, 

145 

Conover,  Mary,  154 
Contentment  of  Stories,  The,  143 
Continued  Stories,  50,  76 


305 


306 


MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


Continued  Stories  as  Drama,  51 
Costumes  and  Story-telling,  44 
Cowles,  Julia  Darrow,  24,  40,  44, 

82,  125 

Criticism  in  Story-telling,  169 
Cycle  of  Stories,  A,  51,  163 

De  Groot,  E.  B.,  155 

Details,  41 

Devices  for  Story-telling,  39 

Direct  Discourse,  40 

Directness  in  Story-telling,  36 

Discipline  through  Stories,  149 

Drama  and  the  Story,  The,  30, 

44,83 

Dramatic  Stories,  32 
Dramatizing  Stories,  81 
Drawing  and  Story-telling,  46 

Education  of  the  Child,  The,  136 

Education  of  the  Heart,  The,  199 

Educational  Value  of  Stories, 
The,  4 

Emotional  Influence  of  Story- 
telling, The,  6 

Enchanted  Land,  The,  180,  184, 
189 

Ending,  The,  36 

English  and  Stories,  138 

Epic  Stories,  18 

Ethical  Stories,  14 

Experience  Defined  by  Story 
Tastes,  25 

Experiences  in  Story-telling,  30 

Expression  through  Stories,  138 

Expression  through  Story-tell- 
ing, 15 

Fables,  22,  87 

Fairy  Queen,  The,  206 

Fairy  Stories,  18   21 

Fairy  Tales,  92 

"Fairy     Who     Came     to     Our 

House,  The,"  92 
Faris,  John  T.,  77 


Feeling,  44 

Feeling  Training  by  Stories,  6 
Fisher,  Dorothy  Canfield,  147 
"Fox  and  the  Farmer,  The,"  221 
"Frank    Enters    the    Enchanted 

Land,"  194 
Friendship,  14 
Funny  Stories,  27 

"Garlands,"  86 

General  List  of  Story-books,  A, 

293 

Gesell,  Arnold  L,  82,  138,  140 
Gestures,  43 
Getting  Attention,  39 
Girls'  Tastes,  24,  161 
Gould,  Frederick  J.,  13 
Grading  Bible  Stories,  124 
Grading  Stories,  87,  160 
Grahame,  Kenneth,  146 

Handicraft     and     Story-telling, 

148,   177 

Hall,  G.  Stanley,  58,  199 
Hero  Tales,  23 
Hervey,  William  I,  37 
Hewins,   Caroline   M.,    158,   164, 

168 

History,  19 

History  and  Stories,  140 
Hofer,  Mari,  75 
Home  and  Stories,  The,  143 
Home  Discipline  and  Stories,  149 
Home    Handicraft   and    Stories, 

148 

Home  Pictures,  55 
Home  Reading  and  Stories,  148 
Hornaday,  William  T.,  12 
Houghton,  Louise  Seymour,  20, 

120  124,  132 

Hov  to  Tell  Stories,  29 
Kuril,  Estelle  M.,  55 

Imagination    and    Story-telling, 
178 


INDEX 


307 


Imagination  in  Stories,  145 

Imagination  Trained  by  Stories, 
5 

Imaginative  Stories,  87 

Importance  of  Bible  Stories, 
The,  122 

Interest,  136 

Interest  in  Stories,  17,  30 

Introducing  the  Bottle  Doll  Peo- 
ple, 191 

James,  William,  135 
Jesus  in  Pictures,  68 
Jesus,  Parables  of,  109 
"Jimmy      and      the      Sharper," 

112 

Jordan,  David  Starr,  147 
Joy  of  the  Child,  143 
Joy  through   Story-telling,  5 

Keyes,  Angela  M.,  29,  43,  48 
Kinds  of  Stories,  17 
Kingdom  of  Law,  The,  180 
Kingdom  of  Love,  The,  179 
"Knight  with  the  Ill-fitting  Coat, 

The,"  99 
Knowledge    of     Good    through 

Stories,  A,  9 

Leamy,  Edmund,  31,  144,  150 
Lee,  Gerald  Stanley,  136,  138 
Legends,  99 
Leisure,  45 
Lena,  207 

Librarians  as  Story-tellers,  152 
Library  Story-hour,  The,  152 
Limitations  of  Story  -  telling, 

The,  13 

Lincoln  Stories,  One  of,  117 
Lindsay,  Maud,  105 
List  of  Bible  Stories,  278 
List  of  Bible  Story-Books,  280 
List  of  Books  Containing  Pic- 
ture Descriptions,  253 


List  of  Books  on  Dramatics,  258 

List  of  Books  on  Story-telling, 
252 

List  of  Stories  Children  Like, 
245 

List  of  Story-books  Connected 
with  School  Subjects,  284 

Listening,  48 

Lists  o  f  Character-building 
Stories,  264 

Lists  of  Stories  and  Playthings, 
79 

Lists  of  Story-pictures,  71 

Lists  of  Story-plays  for  Chil- 
dren, 257 

Literature  and  Stories,  139 

"Little  Blue  Gown  and  the  But- 
terfly," 95 

Lonesome  Land,  The,  202 

Lovely  Lady,  The,  210 

Lowe,  Mary  A.,  85,  159,  160,  175, 
179,  187 

Lyman,  Edna,  32,  47,  51,  162 

MacManus,  Seumas,  5,  15 

"Magic  Shirt,  The,"  104 

Making  the  Bottle  Dolls,  226 

Manner  of  Bible  Story-telling, 
125 

Mannerisms,  45 

Mary  Lowe's  Philosophy,  199 

Mason,  Frank  S.,  157 

Memorizing,   47 

Memory  Training  through  Sto- 
ries, 5 

Method  of  Story-telling  through 
Pictures,  The,  61 

Methods  of  Bible  Story-telling, 
125 

Methods  of  Story-telling,  36 

Mimic  World,  The,  176,  201 

Mitchell,  Donald  G.,  27 

"Monday,"  88 

Moore,  Howard,  8 

Moral  Education,  9 


308 


MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


Moral  Education  through  Pic- 
tures, 68 

Moral  Education  through  Sto- 
ries, 12,  141 

Moral  Reflection,  17 

Moral  Results  from  Bottle  Doll 
Story-telling,  The,  243 

Moral  Stories,  Suggestions  for 
Telling,  118 

Moral  Value,  The,  141 

Moral  Value  of  Stories,  The,  12 

Moses,  The  Story  of,  130 

Mother  and  Story-telling,  The, 
145 

Mother  Goose,  21 

Moulton,  Richard  G.,  125 

Moving  the  Bottle  People,  186, 
231 

Murray,  Charles,  4 

Myths,  18,  99 


Naturalness  of  Home  Story-tell- 
ing, The,  149 

Nature  Interpreted  by  Stories,  5 
Nature  Stories,  22 
Nature  Study  and  Stories,  140 
Nixon,  Lillian  Edith,  84 
Norton,  Charles  E.,  10 

Olcott,  Frances  J.,  24 
Omega  Boys'  Club,   The,  6 
One's  Self  and  the  Story,  43 
Order,  29 

Order,  Changing  the,  128 
Order  of  Bible  Stories,  128 
Organized  Story-telling,  152 
Originativeness   through    Story- 
telling, 233 


Pantomimes,  86 
Parables,  23,  104 
Partridge,  George  E.,  7,  10,  17, 
18,  37,  138 


Paton,  J.  Lewis,  13 
Patton,  Cora  Mel,  86 
Period  Stories,  163 
Perry,  Stella  G.,  86 
Personality  in  Story-telling,   16, 

44 
Physical  Value  of  Stories,  The, 

4 

Picture  Interests  of  Children,  57 
Picture  Story-telling,  55 
Picture  Study,  55 
Picture  Tastes  of  Children,  The, 

Pictures  for  Children,  Choice  of, 
60 

Pictures  in  the  Home,  55 

Plan  for  a  Story,  The,  28 

Play  and  Stories,  74 

Playground  Story-hour,  The, 
155 

Plot  of  the  Story,  The,  29 

Plutarch's  Stories,  115 

Potion,  The,  210 

Present  Day  Life  and  the  Bible, 
130 

Primitive  Story,  The,  17 

Program  in  the  Story-hour,  The, 
162 

Program  of  Bottle  Doll  Stories, 
A,  291 

Programs  of  Stories,  288 

Programs  for  a  Season  of  Or- 
ganized Story-telling,  288 

Pueblos,  Stories  Among  the,  7 

Puppet  Theater,  The,  85 

Purposive  Stories,  19,  92 

Racial  Stories,  163 

Reading  and  Stories,  136,  148 

Reading  versus  Telling  Stories, 

Realistic  Stories,  19,  87,  111 
Reality,  129 

Relation  of  Stories  to  Play,  74 
Repetition,  32,  41,  95 


INDEX 


309 


Results  of  Story-telling,  The,  38 
Retelling  Stories,  42,  156 
Retouching,  43 
Rhythm  in  Story-telling,  20 
Rules    for    Moving    the    Bottle 
People,  186,  231 

Sad  Stories,  27 

Sand  Table,  The,  and  Story-tell- 
ing, 186 
Scenery    for    the    Bottle    Dolls, 

The,  228 

School  and  Stories,  135 
School  Dramatics,  82 
Schiitze,  Mrs.  Stephani,  89 
Schiitze,  Stephani,  2,  27,  48 
Selection  of   Bible   Stories,    132 
Self  and  the  Story,  43 
Sense  Appeal,  21,  33,  88 
Serial  Stories,  52 
Sharp,  Frank  C,  9 
Shedlock,  Mary  L.,  165 
Simplicity,  122 
Sociability  and  Stories,  141 
Social  Unifier,  The  Story  as  a, 

141 
Social  Value  of  Stories,  The,  12, 

88,  112 
Sound,  33 
Spontaneity,  47 
Sprague,  Cara,  157,  159 
St.  John,  Edward  Porter,  40,  42, 

109 

Stanley,  Rufus,  6 
Stepping  Stone  Stories,  158 
Stevenson,  Robert  Louis,  33,  145 
Stories  and  Books,  139 
Stories  and  Discipline,  149 
Stories  and  Education,  135 
Stories  and  Expression,  138 
Stories  and  History,  140 
Stories  and  Interest,  136 
Stories  and  Literature,  139 
Stories  and  Nature  Study,  140 
Stories  and  Play,  74 


Stories  and  Playthings,  79 
Stories  and  School,  135 
Stories  and  Thinking,  138 
Stories  and  Writing,  140 
Stories  at  Bed-time,  150 
Stones  Children  Like,  21,  245 
Stories  to  Act,  83  • 
Stories  with  a  Sense  Appeal,  21, 

88 
Story  as  a  Revelation  of  Life, 

The,  3 
Story-books      Connected      with 

School  Subjects,  284 
Story-books,  A  General  List  of, 

293 

Story-class,  The,  168 
Story-game,  The,  75 
Story-hour,  The,  152 
Story-hour  in  Libraries,  The, 

152 
Story-hour     in     the     Club     for 

Street  Boys,  The,  157 
Story-hour   in  the   Home,   The, 

143 
Story-hour  on  the   Playground, 

The,  155 
Story      in      Character-building, 

The,  7,  87,  111 
Story  of  the  Bottle  Dolls,  The, 

179,  212 

Story-playing,  75 
Story-plays  for  Children,  257 
Story  Tastes,  25 
Story-teller,  The,  36 
Story-tellers'  League,  The,  165 
Story-telling  as  an  Art,  48 
Story-telling  Devices,  39 
Story-telling  Poems,  19 
Story-telling,  The  Value  of,  3 
Story-telling  with  Chalk,  46 
Street  Boys'  Clubs,  157 
Subtraction,  128 
Sunday     School     Teachers     as 

Story-tellers,  168 
Sunday  Story-telling,  77 


310 


MANUAL  OF  STORIES 


Sympathy  and  Story-telling,  120 
Sympathy  through  Story-telling, 
6 

Tact  in  Story-telling,  114 
Tastes  in  Story-telling,  25 
Teachers'  Club,  Story-telling  at 

the,  169 
Telling  versus  Reading  Stories, 

15 

Thinking  through  Stories,  138 
Thomas,  Edward,  33 
Truth  and  the  Story,  123 
Tucker,  William  J.,  171 

Uncle  Remus,  18 

Value  of  Bottle  Dolls,  The,  233 


Value  of  Picture  Stories,  67 
Value  of  Story-telling,  The,  3 
Verbal  Expression  in  Story-tell- 
ing, 138 

Visualizing,  36 
Voskrovsky,  Clara,  31 

"Wee  Hare  and  the  Red  Fire, 
The,"  89 

"When  Ruth  and  Frank  Visited 
the  Enchanted  Land,"  212 

Will  Training  through  Story- 
telling, 11,  210 

Williamson,  Julia,  165 

Witches,  The,  203 

Work,  14 

Writing  and  Stories,  140 

Wyche,  Richard  T.,  23,  36,  165 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


DEC   24  1947 
JAN    12  1948 

AV 


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• 


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JAN  26-64  -5 


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